


Adorableness

by Deonara2012



Category: B.A.P, GOT7
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Bang & Zelo, F/M, Female Zelo, Romance, Rule 63
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:54:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 38,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26701000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deonara2012/pseuds/Deonara2012
Summary: After reconnecting at a fansign (of all places), Yugyeom and Zelo start a relationship. Through problems with her company and his attempts to figure out what he wanted to do with his life, they managed to stick together.
Relationships: Choi Junhong | Zelo/Kim Yugyeom
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

The screams had finally subsided into excited conversation in the small room. Zelo looked up automatically when someone slid an album in front of her, acknowledging the fan who’d given it to her. He was male, she noticed, and she smiled at him before turning her attention to the sticky note on the front. She often didn't get them; her partner usually did, even from the few male fans they had. So she didn't mind it, even if it came at the end of a long fansign. This one, however, was different. Instead of the random question, usually asked about Bang, it said simply, "Do you remember me?" 

Startled, she looked up again, this time focusing on the face of the tall young man across the table. Something about him did look familiar, and it took almost a minute before it clicked and she grinned. She wrote a quick "Yes" on the sticky note, signed the page he'd marked, and handed it back. He took the album and set a plushie in its place, with another sticky note attached. She set it next to her and took a look at the small yellow note. It had a phone number, with a "call me" under it. She took the note off the plushie and stuck it on her jeans, and then looked up at the next fan, who'd slid the album in front of her. 

This one acted like some of their fans, so focused on Bang that they didn't seem to even see Zelo. She had her eyes so fixed on Bang that Zelo couldn't even see them. With a short laugh, she opened the album to one of her pictures - the girl hadn't marked it - and signed. She slid the album back across, and the girl took it without taking her eyes off Bang

"What was that all about?" Bang leaned closer, his deep voice low enough that even the girl across the table couldn't hear. The fans they’d already seen screamed, as they did every time he did this. She no longer thought about it.

"It's none of your business," she sassed back, and he grinned his gummy smile at her and straightened up to look at the fan who'd just moved from in front of Zelo to in front of him. Only two more albums to sign, and then the MC announced the end of the Fansign. Amid screams and calls for longer, Zelo stood with Bang, bowed to them, and waved as they walked off the stage. On the way, she took the note off her jeans and stuck it in her back pocket, near her phone. Staff rushed them through the backstage area and out to where the car waited for them, managing to miss the fans who tried to follow. A couple who hadn't gotten in stood out there, and one of them actually managed to get a hand on Bang. A bodyguard pulled him free, they got in the car, and it pulled away, as quickly and carefully as they could manage.

The silence of the car seemed loud in comparison, and Zelo rubbed her ears. The screams hurt, and she wished sometimes they could wear ear plugs at these. When asked, everyone had explained that it would only mean they couldn't hear the fans. She hadn't told them that was the point, and it had taken a lot of self control to keep it from coming out. She nodded once, her eyes slipping closed, and she pulled out her phone to play a game to keep from falling asleep before she got home. 

"So, tell me about the sticky note," Bang said. That meant his ears had stopped ringing.

Zelo could hear him well, so that meant hers had, too. "The... he's a friend. Well, someone I knew at school," she said. "I had a really big group of friends, before you talked me into auditioning. He was in it, even if I didn't hang out with him too much. He's a year younger than I am. One day, we had this conversation, and I remember thinking that he actually got me. Like we had a lot in common, and he could understand my point of view, and I could understand his. It was one of the best conversations I've ever had. Then we found out we got into TSE, and I didn't have a chance to talk to him again. I lost track of everyone, too busy to do anything but rehearse and study."

"What's his name?"

"Yugyeom." 

He smiled his gummy smile at her, and she wondered what it meant this time. "You should call him."

"Why?"

"Because you've lost track of all your friends and you could use some more. You haven't really made any new friends and you need some. Besides, if he went through the trouble to get into that fansign, I think you must be pretty important to him."

Zelo stared at him, only able to make out his face when they went under a streetlight. He smiled at her, not quite so big and gummy, a bit softer instead, and then went back to his phone. She didn't know what to think about that, not really. She finally fished the note out and put the number and his name into her phone. She didn't want to lose it. And the fact that Bang encouraged it surprised her. Maybe. She shrugged at her random thoughts, and then sent a quick text. _It was good to see you tonight._

The answer came almost immediately, the notification so loud it made her blush. The message on her lock screen said _It was good to see you, too._ She tucked her phone away, trying to keep from getting too embarrassed, and caught Bang's smile out of the corner of her eye.

Once they got to TSE, it didn't take either of them long to change into street clothes and wash their faces. Zelo pulled a cap over her mop of blond curls and followed Bang out to his car so he could drop her off. Neither of them said much, most of the things they wanted to say about the day they’d already said. Music on the radio and the game on Zelo's phone kept her awake until Bang dropped her off. He waited until she went into the dark house before he drove away.

As soon as Eunhong got in the house, she went into her bedroom and right to the desk, leaving her stage name at the door with her shoes. She took her tablet out of her bag and plugged it in, and then attached her iPod to the laptop and let it sync. She set her phone next to it, and then put the bag on the desk chair, a wooden, straight backed chair, and went to the bathroom. The overhead light wasn't as bright as those over the mirror, and right now she didn't want bright. She washed her face again, doing all the moisturizing and everything she needed to keep her face clear, especially after the amount of makeup she had to wear on stage, and then brushed her teeth and went back to her bedroom.

She knew she was tired when she tripped over the purple rug by her bed, not bad enough to actually fall, at least. She grabbed her pajamas out of the drawer of the lilac and violet dresser, changing quickly into the cut-off sweats and t-shirt with "Music is my life" scrawled on the front. She checked the iPod, and then the phone, seeing the text from Yugyeom she hadn't taken off the home screen yet. She glanced at the clock over the desk, trying to decide if he'd hate her if she called. 

Maybe, but she could text him. Decided, she opened her phone and sent him a text. _Hey, is it too late to call?_

The answer came immediately. _Nope. I'd like to talk to you._

Eunhong smiled to herself and called, grabbing her Bluetooth headset out of her bag and turning it on. By the time he answered, she'd gotten it on and had sat cross-legged on her bed, slippers on the floor. "Hey," she said at his greeting.

"How are you even still awake?" Yugyeom asked.

"Adrenalin," Eunhong said honestly. "Sometimes, after those things, it takes me hours to settle down. We actually get sleepy in the car, but then have to get changed, and then get home, and a lot of times, by then I get my second wind, and sleeping is out of the question."

"Huh. I guess I never really thought of it that way. I was ready to sleep on the bus on the way home, so it's sort of the same thing. How long do your ears ring afterward?"

"I don't know, maybe five minutes? We timed it once. I'll suggest we do it again, and give you a real answer."

"That sounds good." He paused. "How did your day go?"

Eunhong looked down at the bedspread that matched the dresser, picking at the dark purple stitching. "It was a pretty normal day," she said. "Not much to it."

"Okay," Yugyeom said. "I don't know what that means, though. Can you give me more detail?"

Eunhong stared at the bookshelf above her desk. "Oh. Right. Um." A normal day? "Yongguk picked me up around 9 and we went to the company," she started. "We practiced the choreography for the song we're promoting right now. Um. And then had lunch, I think." Her days tended to blend together. "After lunch, voice lessons, and about an hour to work on any ideas that came across my mind before going back to rehearsal. We had a quick dinner before getting changed and make up done for the fansign, and then went there and met an old friend, and now I'm talking to him."

"Sounds busy."

"It is." She sighed and leaned back on her bed. "Tell me about your day. Leading up to the screaming bedlam you spent two hours in tonight."

He laughed, and Eunhong had to smile. He had a great laugh. She couldn’t remember if she'd ever noticed it before. "I'm trying to find a job. It's hard. I don't know what I want to do. Jumping into and out of jobs isn't going to look good on my resume, if I ever manage to get one."

"You don't want to go to university?"

"No. Well, I mean, I'd love to. It's the same problem, though. I don't know what to do, what to study. My parents aren't so wealthy that I can waste their money on something like that."

"Huh. I never thought of that," she said. "It makes sense."

A knock on her mostly-closed door made her twist around. "Hang on a sec," she told Yugyeom, and took her headset off.

The woman in the doorway looked a lot like Yongguk, which she should, as his older sister. Natasha looked around the room and smiled. "You need to get to bed," she said softly. "Who are you talking to?"

"A friend I met at the fansign. No, that's not quite right. I knew him in high school, sort of. He was there tonight, and he said I could call. I'll get off soon."

Natasha smiled at her. "Good night. Sleep well."

"Good night," Eunhong said, and waited until Natasha left to put her headphones back on. "Hey, sorry about that. I have to get off. Early morning tomorrow."

"Okay. One quick question: can I text you?"

Eunhong hesitated. "I don't see why not," she said. "I usually can't answer right away, though. Most of the day I don't have my phone with me."

"That's fine," Yugyeom said. "I don't mind. I'll text you tomorrow, then."

"I look forward to it. Good night."

"Sleep well."

She hung up, then put her slippers on and went to her desk to plug her phone in. This time, on the way to the door to turn the light off, she managed not to trip on the rug, if only because she paid more attention. Light off, she got into bed and pulled the covers up over her face and gave a short, quiet squee that made her wonder if she'd ever actually left high school. 

The evening had been wonderful, from the unexpected reunion with Yugyeom to the support from Yongguk to the conversation she'd had just a minute ago. She wondered if it had hurt him that she'd taken so long to remember him, and then shrugged. Possibly not. At least, he hadn't brought it up tonight. She decided it was not the worst thing in the world, that she hadn't immediately-she hadn't ever expected to see anyone she knew in the audience at something like that-and decided not to make herself feel bad about it. 

She snuggled closer under the covers, smiling to herself in the dark as she went over the conversation. That he'd asked about her day, and then had her describe it, hadn't asked about people she knew or anything like that.... She sighed, happy, and fell asleep.

Any chance she got, Zelo took the opportunity to freestyle dance. It didn’t happen often, and only when Bang had to be in a meeting for something. She hadn’t asked, so ready she was to get to the practice room and put in some music. She put it on shuffle, and started to warm up. By the time she’d started to really dance, one of her favorite songs came on. She'd heard in when they were recording some months ago. She'd loved it then, and asked for a copy. One eye on her form in the mirror, she danced with some abandon, moving smoothly from one move to the next. As soon as it ended, she went over to put it on repeat, and started again.

She spun and caught sight of Bang standing in the doorway, waiting for her to finish, a proud smile on his face. She grinned and kept going, listening to the beat, checking to see what looked good, what would go well with the music, until it ended. She strode across the floor to turn the music off. "I liked that," Bang said, dropping his bag next to the couch against one wall, and sinking down onto the worn blue cushions. "You should polish it up and use it for your spotlight at the next showcase."

Zelo stared at him, eyebrows up, as she walked across the floor to join him on the couch. "I'll think about it," she said. "I'll have to ask if I can use the music."

Bang smiled and patted her knee. "You look happy. Did you talk to your new friend?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Even your dance looked more happy, which is weird, because I can tell the difference between a happy dance and an angry dance."

Zelo blushed and tried to ignore it. "The music helps," she pointed out. 

Bang laughed. "Not to me," he said. "I've seen some people dance happy to the angriest song in the world, and I’ve seen you dance angrily to a ballad. You really could blow their socks off, if you dance that at the next showcase."

"Which is where you were this morning, right? Scheduling it?"

"Yep."

Zelo grinned at him. "Okay. I'll work on it. No promises though."

Bang laughed at her. "Right," he said.

They both got up as the choreographer walked in, bowing in greeting to him. After a short stretch more for Bang than for her, they started working for real on the choreography, getting it set in muscle memory, getting it so they could do it in their sleep. When he left two hours later, Zelo collapsed dramatically on the floor. "I swear, he's a drill sergeant," she whined, more play than a real complaint. She liked their choreographer, and she enjoyed dancing. 

Bang sat down next to her, laughing. "You've never met one, or you wouldn't say so," he said, and patted her arm. "You're just lazy." She sat up and pouted at him, and he grinned his wide, gummy smile. "You should check and see if your boy left you a text."

Good idea. Zelo got to her feet and went to where she'd dropped her bag, on the other side of the couch from his. "Why are you so invested in... in this?" she asked, digging in to find her phone.

"I like that you're happy," he said. "And I want you to stay happy. Besides, there isn't a dating ban in the contract. Why not take advantage of that?"

Zelo rolled her eyes. "You take advantage of it," she shot back, and then smiled when she saw Yugyeom had sent her a text, asking how her day was going. She replied, and a minute later came another text, asking if he could call. Instead of answering, she called him. "Hey."

"Good morning. Up and moving?" he asked.

"Always," Zelo said, sinking onto the couch and stretching her long legs out. "What are you up to?"

"Walking the street," he said.

Zelo burst into laughter. "Do you know how that sounds?" she asked when she could speak again.

"Why do you think I said it?" Yugyeom asked, his smile obvious in his words. 

"What are you doing, walking the streets?" Zelo asked.

"Looking for a job. It's impossible. What have you been doing this morning?"

"Working with the choreographer," Zelo said. "Bang still needs work on the dancing part of things. It's harder on him, because he's not a dancer."

"Really. So, why did he audition?"

"He wanted to reach more people. He has a lot of things he's interested in, things he wants to get out there, so people know about them, and he does that through his rap. The dancing is not his favorite, and he knew he'd have to learn. He's good, once he gets out of his own way."

Yugyeom laughed shortly at that. "I understand that."

Bang waved, catching her eye, and pointed at his wrist when he saw he'd gotten her attention. He didn't wear a watch, but she understood the message. "Hey, I have to go, break is over. Talk to you later?"

"Absolutely," Yugyeom said, and hung up.

Zelo dropped her phone in her bag and stood up, stretching a little to keep from getting too stiff. 

"Why were you talking about me?" Bang asked as she joined him in the middle of the floor to work through the choreography without the music a couple of times. Working slower sometimes helped them both. 

"He wondered why you'd auditioned if you don't like to dance," Zelo said. "I told him."

Bang stopped before they'd actually started, and gave her a look she recognized. She knew what he would say next. "Be careful. I don't want someone coming down on you before you find out how much you like this guy." He sounded like her older brother, only more than usual, and she rolled her eyes. "I mean it," he said. "They won't like it if you're talking to a boy, dating ban or not. Be careful."

Zelo refrained from rolling her eyes this time, with some sort of monumental amount of self control. "I'm always careful," she said, and started the count so they could go through their dance.

Zelo had just sent Yugyeom a good luck text for his job application, responding to his text about an opportunity he’d found, when the door opened. Their manager, Hyunwoo walked in, and watched her with one eyebrow up. "Who are you texting?"

Zelo looked him over. His clothes didn't look tugged on, shirt unwrinkled and tie straight in his collar. His dark hair lay neatly on his head, bangs falling over the unraised eyebrow. He had a strong, intelligent face with a sharp jawline, and she found him one of the more handsome men around TSE. Considering some of the people she'd seen, that meant a lot. Not that she'd ever tell him that, no matter how fun it would be to make him blush. "A friend," she said.

The other eyebrow went up and he stepped closer. "A friend? Does your friend have a name?" His voice dropped as he tried to keep their conversation private.

She put her phone down and got to her feet. "Most definitely."

"What is that name?"

"Why do you want to know?" Zelo had decided when they signed their contract that she wouldn't lie. She'd spent some time before she'd wound up living with Bang's sister on the street, and lying was standard procedure there. She'd taken some time and effort to try to get rid of that habit once she moved in with Natasha, and she'd made sure not to do it once she started at TSE, on Natasha's suggestion. 

Hyunwoo shook his head, giving her a smile. She knew that smile; it said she hadn't diverted him as well as she thought she had. "Be careful," he said.

"I'm always careful," Zelo said to him, with a way-too-big grin.

Hyunwoo scowled at her, tugging at his tie to get it to sit right on his collar. 

Zelo knew she'd gone too far, and bowed. "I'll be careful," she said, penitent. 

When she straightened back up, he smiled at her. "I know you will," he said, and then went to talk to Bang. 

Zelo sighed in relief as soon as she felt like she could, and leaned against the wall. She didn't want to make an enemy of her manager, and she might have done that. Hyunwoo worked hard for them, and she tried to keep her sass down around him. Or, at least, contained some. She stayed near the wall so she didn't interrupt them; if whatever Hyunwoo had come in to talk about affected her, Bang would explain it later. She found it funny that Hyunwoo always talked to Bang alone, no matter what the situation, probably because the company had made him leader. She didn't mind, she just... found it funny. She also didn't ever want to be the leader. She saw the stress Bang was under, with that job title.

Hyunwoo left after a short time, and Zelo sank down on the couch next to Bang. "What did he want?" she asked.

"Schedule change," Bang said. "We got an opportunity to do a special stage at MCountdown, mostly just rap, no choreography. It's a collaboration."

"Am I included?" Zelo asked, twisting a curl around her finger before realizing she'd done it and yanking her hand down. It pulled and she barely kept from yelping.

"Yes," Bang said, stifling a smile. "We'll learn our parts, and run through it a couple of times with the others on Saturday before the show. What did he want with you?"

Zelo shrugged. "He wanted to know who I was talking to."

"You didn't tell him."

"No. He asked for a name, I didn't tell him, and he told me to be careful, so I said I would."

Bang straightened up and looked at her, elbow braced on his knee. "You don't listen to me when I tell you to be careful," he protested.

"Of course not," Zelo said, grinning. "It's a matter of priority. You're my older brother. He's my boss. Which would you listen to, YongNam or Hyunwoo?"

Bang scowled at her, and she got up to move away from him. He didn't grab at her, eyes narrowed as he watched her walk across the floor. "Are you telling me you don't listen to me?" he asked.

Zelo straightened her expression to one of innocence. "Should I?" she asked, fluttering her eyelashes at him.

He lunged off the couch at her, and she fled, out the door and through the halls of TSE, dodging the people in her way.

Yugyeom closed the door to the office building he'd just come out of, and walked toward the bus stop three blocks down. He didn't know if this was what he wanted, but it would give him money for the summer, and it was work. If nothing else, he could probably decide he didn't want to do that, and that would have to be enough. He pulled out his phone long enough to send Eunhong a text, that he'd finished his interview, and then tucked it away. He didn't really expect to hear from her again soon. He had a basic idea of her schedule now, something he knew better than his own, and figured he had a couple of hours at least, probably closer to four or five, before she could talk to him again.

The ding of his phone made him start and nearly trip as he walked up on the curb after the first block. He stepped out of the stream of people walking on the sidewalk and pulled out his phone. she'd sent.

Yugyeom didn't hesitate, pressing the call button as he started walking again. "Hey," he said at her breathless greeting. "What were you doing? You sound more out of breath than usual."

Eunhong laughed, and Yugyeom thanked anyone listening that she couldn't see the way he tripped over his own feet. He loved her laugh. "We... got into a chase," she said. "I told Bang I listened more to Hyunwoo-he’s our manager-than to him, and he didn't react well to that. Apparently, these chases are more regular than I thought, because people kept getting out of the way for us." 

"Can he catch you?" Yugyeom asked.

"Not usually, no," Eunhong said. "He walks back to the practice room cursing my legs."

Yugyeom laughed. He could understand that. "Does that mean he has caught you?"

"Once. I tripped over someone and went flying."

"Ouch."

"It wasn't too bad. But! You had the interview. How did it go?"

Yugyeom grinned, pausing at the next traffic light. "I got the job. It's temporary, just for the summer. I'm looking forward to it, though. It'll bring in money, and my mom will be glad I'm not sitting on the couch watching TV and eating her out of house and home." He wanted Eunhong to meet his mother, sometime. Not that he'd say anything now....

"Congratulations! You said it was a landscaping company?"

"Yeah." He started forward with the rest of the crowd to cross the street. "It is. I'm going to be learning, and I'll just be performing manual labor, which is fine. I'm looking forward to it."

"Good. I'm glad you won't be sitting on the couch, too."

"Hey, Eunhong? Um. Do you have any nights off?"

Her silence over the phone made him nervous. "I don't think so, why?"

"I'd like to meet you. I mean. I'd like to get together with you, some evening, face to face, and talk. Just... some evening. If it's possible." He couldn't get the words out in any sort of smoothness, his tongue stumbling over everything and getting in the way. 

"Oh," she breathed. "I'd like that. Do you have a schedule?"

"I should have it by the time I get home," he said. "How do you want me to send it? Text a picture, or email?"

"Email, please. I'll compare schedules and see what I can come up with. I'll... I hope so," she added, sounding wistful. "I'd like to spend some time with you, too. And Bang says friends are always good, so at least I don't have to fight him and the company."

That hadn't crossed his mind. "Do you have a dating ban?" he asked.

"No. Nothing like that. I mean... more the schedule part. We're really busy right now. I just... I would like a short break for one evening, so I don't burn out. And Bang would, too, even if he doesn't think so."

"I hope it works out, then," Yugyeom said. 

"Me too. I have to go," she added with regret in her voice. "Don't forget to send me your schedule. Promise?"

"I promise, and if I were there, I'd pinky promise, too."

She laughed. "Talk to you later," she said, and when he'd said goodbye, she hung up. Belatedly, he hung up as well, and then stopped and turned around when he realized he'd passed the bus stop. 

He wanted to shout his excitement to the world, and at the same time, he wanted to keep it private. She didn't need the possible attention it would give her. He couldn't stop smiling as he boarded the bus - checking to make sure he'd gotten the right bus - and swiped his pass. He didn't even mind standing, watching out the window and not seeing anything, and happy that she wanted to meet, too. It even eclipsed his excitement of getting his job.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zelo gets her evening off, and Hyunwoo learns something about his superior he never wanted to know.

At the first break that afternoon, Zelo grabbed her phone and sank down on the couch. She checked her email to find Yugyeom's schedule, and she peered at it for a moment, memorizing free evenings, before going to check her own. "This is crap," she muttered, realizing for the first time that she actually had no evenings off. It hadn't mattered before, because she had nowhere else to be.

"What is?" Bang asked, plopping down on the couch next to her. 

"I don't have any evenings off."

"Why do you want them?"

Zelo looked at him, and then, to her surprise, she blushed. She caught sight of it in the mirror and winced at how she looked. No delicate flower here. "I... Yugyeom wants to meet some evening, to hang out. And I can't, because we don't get evenings off."

Bang leaned back on the couch and looked up at the ceiling, his usual thinking pose. "That's a problem," he admitted. "Are you going to talk to Hyunwoo about it?"

"I think so," Zelo said, leaning back as well, looking up at the ceiling and not seeing it. "It didn't matter so much before this, and I don't know what to think about any of it."

Bang laughed shortly. "Maybe that's why they don't have a dating ban. No need for one."

Zelo laughed, and then sobered almost immediately and looked at him. "You think so?"

Bang shrugged. “I don’t know for sure. I do know that the evening practices are on purpose, so it wouldn’t surprise me. It might even partially explain why so many of the new trainees go elsewhere.”

"That makes sense," Zelo mumbled. She sat up and ran her fingers through her hair. "That’s not really the issue, though. I just... I want...."

Bang grinned. "I know," he said, and got up. He held his hand out to her. "Come on, let's get to work. You can ask Hyunwoo when he pokes his head in this evening."

Practicing helped. Bang knew it would, which was probably why he'd suggested it. Zelo managed to keep her mind off her lack of free time while working on making her body, still growing, do what they needed it to do. They didn't stop until Hyunwoo came in with dinner for them. Zelo bowed her thanks, and then stood there for a moment instead of going immediately to join Bang on the floor in the middle of the room. 

Hyunwoo looked at her warily. "What do you want?"

She smiled. "I would like to take an evening off."

Hyunwoo stared at her. "You want an evening off. Why?"

"I want to meet a friend."

Hyunwoo's gaze sharpened. "The one who has a name but you won't tell me? The one you've been texting?"

"Yes."

His lips curved up. "Why are you asking me now?"

Zelo smiled innocently. "As opposed to when you didn't know?" she asked.

Hyunwoo scowled. "You want a night off." He said it quieter, like he spoke to himself. He tugged on his shirt sleeve, and then folded his arms.

"Just a couple of hours. Any night but Wednesday and Friday. Please?" She gave him her best pleading eyes.

"It's a good thing you said not Friday, because you know that's out completely." He didn't look at her, and she stifled a smile. She figured she'd won, although she didn't want to count on it. "You couldn't possibly miss out on performing. You two are doing really well this promotion." He sighed, staring aimlessly at the wall, and Zelo had to try not to celebrate. "I'll take a look and see what will work. Fair?"

Zelo stepped forward to give him a hug, and then remembered he didn't like that. She stepped back again and bowed. "Thank you, Hyunwoo. I appreciate it." When she straightened back up, he looked almost panicked, and he left faster than he usually did.

Bang patted the floor next to him, and Zelo took her dinner over to sit down. "You shouldn't tease him like that," he said, after she'd gotten her bento open and had started eating.

She swallowed. "I didn't mean to," she said. "You've got me conditioned to hug everyone." She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, and took another bite.

He looked back at her. "What's that look for?" he asked.

She smiled and took another bite. When she'd swallowed that one, she shrugged. "He'd probably like it if you hugged him," she said.

Bang blinked, as if the idea hadn't ever occurred to him. Zelo didn't know if it had or hadn't, so she didn't assume. Instead, she went back to her dinner, enjoying it and the companionship next to her. 

As soon as they finished dinner, Bang and Zelo cleaned up the trash, and then sat down in the middle of the floor, notebooks in front of them, ready to compose. Zelo had her own way of getting started, which Bang didn't seem to need. He could dive right in and not worry about it, writing all sorts of lyrics and melody lines. It seemed so odd to her. She, on the other hand, started by doodling, writing whatever came to mind. These days, she would usually write out texts she wanted to send to Yugyeom, and more than once, those had sparked something that they might never use, but still came from the heart. It meant she wrote more than before, too, and although she'd been doing this for a year, some of her lyrics felt contrived, or too young, too simple, too... not enough. Bang didn't agree with her, and sometimes, they'd work on something she'd done to refine it to something she felt better about. She had at least two credits on songs they'd done, and there were more coming on the next album.

The door opened and Zelo looked up from her paper, seeing Hyunwoo's reflection in the mirror. She immediately stood up, turned around, and looked at him with her most convincing puppy-dog eyes. Bang stood up next to her, slower, trying to hide a smile.

"You are dangerous," Hyunwoo said, walking across the floor. 

She turned up the pleading, and could see when he caved. 

He came to a stop, tugged on his tie, and then fixed his collar. "Yes, okay, Tuesday night, stop looking at me like that," he said, almost too fast to understand. 

Zelo smiled brightly. "Thank you," she said, and bowed her thanks, keeping her hands by her sides. She didn't want him to think she even wanted to hug him, although she really did. 

"You're welcome. Don't think I can't see your smile," Hyunwoo added to Bang, who merely smiled widely at him. "Is there anything else you need?"

"We're doing fine," Bang said. "Thank you."

Hyunwoo nodded at them and walked out.

"Yes!" Zelo said, and hugged Bang tightly. She wiggled out of his grip and went to her phone. _Does Tuesday night work?_ she sent to Yugyeom, then took her phone over to their notebooks and got back to work. She'd pretty much lost interest, and lost her train of thought. She poked dispiritedly at what she'd written, but nothing caught her attention.

Her phone sounded a few minutes later. _Sounds perfect._ Yugyeom added a time and a place, including the address. 

_I'll check into it,_ she sent back, then scrambled to her feet and twirled across the floor, unable to contain her excitement.

"You are so lost," Bang said, gathering up the notebooks. "It's cute." He got up to put them away in the small cabinet at one end of the couch, and turned to grin at her. "I want to meet him."

Zelo came to a complete halt. "What? No. I mean, maybe sometime, but I don't want you to scare him away." Then she caught sight of his gummy smile, and stomped over to smack him on the arm. "Don't tease me," she said with a pout.

Bang drew himself up, looking vaguely offended. "What? As your older brother, I'm not allowed to tease you? It is my solemn duty and obligation to make your life as miserable as I possibly can, because I am older than you. It’s my prerogative to tease you, and I have permission from my sister." He picked up his water bottle and took a drink.

Zelo regarded him seriously, her eyes closed into slits. "I guess I can accept that," she said, plopping down on the couch. "Besides, I'm pretty sure your sister would not appreciate it if I called you ‘uncle.’"

To her surprise, he choked on the water, coughed, and straightened with a terrified expression on his face. "You're right. She wouldn't like that at all. She might kill me for encouraging it."

Zelo laughed. She didn't often get a reaction like that. When she did, she considered it a win. So, hey. Win for her.

The cafe didn't have many people in it when Eunhong got there fifteen minutes early for her date with Yugyeom. She'd gone early partly because she wanted to make sure she wouldn't get recognized, and partly because she needed to get out of the rehearsal room and away from everyone. She needed time to herself, to sit and become Eunhong again, instead of Zelo. She'd put a cap over her cotton candy-colored hair and kept her sunglasses on, so far, and sat up straight. Hunching over tended to attract more attention than sitting straight, because hunching over made it look like she tried to hide her identity. 

She found a table in a corner away from the windows and sat with her back to the wall. She played with her cup, the coffee gone already. She finally set it down and pulled out her phone. She didn't send Yugyeom a text; he'd get there on time or he'd contact her about it. She scrolled through her twitter feed and relaxed, stretching her legs out under the table. 

The bell on the door chimed and she looked up, immediately smiling at the sight of Yugyeom. He smiled as well, and didn't even look around, heading right toward her. She stood up to greet him, giving him a hug. "It's good to see you," she said as they sat down again. He sat across from her, smiling. 

"It's good to see you, too," he said. "I want to grab something, are you hungry?"

"I've eaten," Eunhong said. "Don't let that stop you, if you haven't."

"Something to drink, then?"

"I'd like an iced coffee, if that's okay?"

Yugyeom reached over and patted her hand. "It's fine. I'll be right back."

He went up to the counter and put in the order. Eunhong watched him, smiling softly. He was a good looking man, well put together, and it surprised her that he didn't already have a girlfriend. Or someone more than that. 

She blushed at the thought and looked down, automatically checking her phone before she put it away. Nothing from Bang or Hyunwoo. She put it on silent and put it in her pocket.

He sat down in front of her and smiled again. "I hope you weren't waiting long."

"I got here a little early on purpose," Eunhong explained. "I just needed some time to myself, so I could be more... myself when you got here."

His worried expression eased. "I could leave, if you still need more time," he told her.

"I'd rather spend it with you," she said honestly, and then one of the workers brought their drinks and a small plate of appetizers for them to share. As soon as she'd walked away, she tilted her head. "Tell me about your job?"

He laughed. "It's a lot of digging, and planting, and organizing," he said. "Like, today? We put in someone's garden. Built raised beds, and filled them. She'll do her own planting, and she looked so glad to have them fixed so she could start. I swear she was dancing." He demonstrated some moves, and looked so ridiculous that Eunhong giggled at him and nearly choked on her drink.

"You did that all day?" she asked when he finished, and she'd gotten her breath back.

"Yeah, that was most of it. At the end and at the beginning, we went over plans, covered duties, and cleaned up tools and everything. We cleaned up the area and everything is ready for her to plant."

"So you have work tomorrow, too?" she asked.

"Another of her neighbors, actually. The same basic thing. It's what we do a lot of, for these older ladies who can't get down on the ground anymore and still want to plant gardens and enjoy them."

"It sounds like hard work."

"It is. I like it, though. I've met some nice people. The men I work with are rough, but seem okay, for the most part."

"Tell them to be good to you or I'll do something violent to them." Eunhong narrowed her eyes in what she hoped was a threatening manner.

Yugyeom smiled, and Eunhong thought maybe his smiles were up there with Yongguk's. Warming and kind, some of the best smiles she’d ever seen. "Thank you," he said gravely. "What was your day like?"

Eunhong shrugged. "We spent most of the day going over the mistakes we made over the weekend, so we don't make them again this weekend. Then we had an informal fitting for costumes for this weekend, and lunch, and then more rehearsal until dinner, and then I got to come here."

He smiled and pushed the plate with the snacks on it toward her. "You obviously need some energy," he said. 

Eunhong laughed and took one of the sweets. "So, any ideas about staying in this job?" she asked.

By the time they finished the snacks (and after he'd gotten a second one), two hours had passed and Eunhong started to feel the effects of her day. She thought she'd managed to keep from making it obvious, but he caught her yawning. "I bet you're tired," he said softly, stacking the empty plates. "I should let you go home."

She wanted to protest, and as soon as she opened her mouth, another yawn came out. "Oh. Maybe so," she said, and managed not to pout. It didn't really fit here, anyway; that was more Zelo than Eunhong. "I don't want to, though."

Yugyeom smiled at her. "I don't want you to, either. I also don't want you to get into trouble, and you need a good night's sleep."

She couldn't protest that, as much as she wanted to, so she stood up when he did, and they walked out to meet the bus together. Hers came first, and she stepped on, waving at him as she scanned her pass and sank down in an empty seat.

She'd needed this evening, and she hadn't known how much she needed it. She'd felt for the first time in a long time like a real person, a non-idol person, and she couldn't even say how long it had been since she felt like that. She smiled softly and leaned her head on the window. 

Eunhong walked into the house and took her shoes off, putting them on the shelf she used. She slid her feet into her slippers, and padded toward her bedroom. The lamplight in the front room made her stop and check who was up, because usually she came home after everyone had gone to bed. Natasha sat on the black leather couch, reading a book, comfortable in sweats and a t-shirt. After a short pause, Eunhong sat down in the chair she usually took, slid her feet out of her slippers, and braced them on the edge of the leather cushion, her arms around her bent legs. She barely fit now; her legs had gotten too long to make this comfortable, but tonight she felt like she needed that familiarity.

Natasha put her book down on the black lacquer coffee table between them and smiled fondly at Eunhong. "How was your evening?" she asked.

Eunhong smiled at the question. "It was awesome, but that's not the right word," she said, measuring out her words to make clear what she wanted to say. "I had a wonderful time. We had snacks and cold drinks, and talked for most of it. Not all," she added, thinking about that. "We talked about my day, and his day, and what he's doing, and then talked about friends, and... it was so relaxing. Even the silences were comfortable." She sighed wistfully at the memory of it.

Natasha brightened, her eyes shining in the light from the lamp next to her. "He's a keeper, then."

Eunhong blinked, not sure she'd heard right. "A keeper?" she repeated. The excitement of the evening had begun to wear off, and she started to feel her exhaustion. "What do you mean?"

"One of the reasons I'm still with my partner is because when we started dating, we had that same experience of comfortable silences. Neither of us wanted to push the other. No, it was more than that." Natasha leaned back on the couch. "We didn't feel the need to fill all the silences with talk. It was... you know how it is, when you're with some people, and the silences are unbearable? It's the opposite of that. We can just sit and be. So yeah, I think he's a keeper." She tilted her head. "You look happy."

Eunhong thought about that for a moment. "Yongguk said the same thing," she said slowly. "I mean, ever since I called Yugyeom that first day, he's mentioned that I look happier. Did I look unhappy or something?"

"No," Natasha said. "It's one of those things where we didn't realize how not happy - because you weren't unhappy - you were until we saw how happy you'd become, texting and calling him. I could tell that first night. There was a definite difference."

Eunhong bit her lip. "I like him," she said, feeling her way through her words. "I feel comfortable around him, I don't feel pressured to bring in... no, I mean, I don't feel pressured to name-drop around him. I don't even talk about who I might know, and he never asks. We talk about our days, about what I've done and what he's done."

"Hm," Natasha said with a knowing smile. "I'd like to meet this young man."

"That's what Yongguk said," Eunhong said in protest. "I don't want to scare him off, so I probably won't introduce them. You guys are mostly calm enough."

Natasha laughed. "Yongguk can play the big brother well enough," she said, and eyed Eunhong reprovingly. "Definitely not the favorite uncle, though."

Eunhong grinned. "He told you about that, did he?"

"Yes," Natasha said. "He knew I'd get a kick out of it. It's much better for you to be a little sister."

"I don't mind that," Eunhong said, and then yawned, big enough to crack her jaw and bring tears to her eyes. "Um."

"That's your cue," Natasha said, getting up and offering her hand to Eunhong. "You need to get to bed so you can get up in the morning. 

Eunhong put her feet into her slippers, then accepted Natasha's hand and stood. "I do," she said. "Thanks for listening to me."

"Any time," Natasha said, and picked up her book before turning off the lamp. "Good night."

"Night." Eunhong went to her room, plugged in her phone, and instead of collapsing on her bed like she wanted to, she washed her face and brushed her teeth, then changed into pajamas. As soon as she climbed into bed, she fell asleep.

Eunhong saw Yongguk pull up in the driveway, and left the house, jumping down the front porch stairs. She didn't have to struggle with the gate, at least; it opened easily when she entered the code, and she made sure to close it behind her. Yongguk grinned at her when she got in his dark blue coupe and buckled her seat belt. He backed out of the drive and started toward TSE. 

"You're bouncing in your seat," he said, his amusement obvious in his voice. "It's hilarious."

"I slept well," Eunhong said, with more affected innocence than she knew he'd believe.

Yongguk laughed and rolled his eyes. "It's more than that," he pointed out. "You look better. I mean, you look like you did when you finished your last final your senior year. Like half of the stress you'd been dealing with disappeared."

Eunhong laughed. "Interesting comparison."

"I take it the date went well."

She sighed and leaned her head on the cloth headrest, closing her eyes with a dreamy smile. "It was wonderful, which sounds cliche, but it's really not. We had a lot of fun, laughing, relaxing, and even... sitting in silence." She stopped talking, smiling wistfully. After a moment, she cleared her throat. "I didn't have to be anyone but... me. Eunhong. No calls for Zelo, no..." She opened her eyes and looked at him, then gestured aimlessly when he glanced at her, a quizzical expression on his face. "I didn't have to be anyone else. Just me. The Eunhong side of me."

"Didn't have to put on a show?" The turn signal ticked loudly in the silence of the car.

"Yes, that exactly." She closed her eyes again, shifting as he turned. "And then, afterwards, I got to talk to Natasha, which I haven't had time to do in a long time. She's usually asleep by the time I get home. That was just as wonderful. I miss talking to her. It was... one of the best evenings I've had in a long time."

"Even if I wasn't there?" he teased.

"Especially because," she teased back, and laughed at his scandalized gasp. "No, because we had dinner, remember? That counts as part of the evening."

He scoffed, but she could hear his smile even in that noise. "You should see him again."

"I'd like to," Eunhong admitted. 

"You'd like to, but?" Yongguk said, sounding vaguely distracted.

"Yeah," Eunhong said. "I don't think Hyunwoo's superior is going to allow it. I'm not sure how he managed to let us take last evening off." She shifted fitfully, hands gripping the cloth seat on either side of her. "I don't like him much."

"I don’t either," Yongguk said, and then the car slowed. Eunhong opened her eyes to see they'd hit the morning traffic, and she relaxed and closed her eyes again, dozing on and off as Yongguk fought his way toward TSE.

The car slowed and Yongguk took the turn into the TSE parking lot, a feeling she knew better than any of her dance routines. He parked and turned the car off. He didn't open the door, though, reaching to shake her shoulder to get her to wake up. "Hey. You didn't stay up too late last night, did you?"

"Nah, I got to bed before I usually do," Eunhong said sleepily, opening her eyes. She picked up her bag from the foot well, and set it on her lap. "I slept really well. I'm still growing."

Yongguk stared at her, mouth agape. "You can't," he protested after a moment, horrified, eyes wide. "You're already too much taller than I am! You can't get any taller."

Eunhong laughed and opened the door, climbing out of his car. He grabbed her arm before she got all the way out. "I think you'll be able to see your boy again," he said, so seriously that she couldn't argue with him about it. He let her go and got out, and she finished getting out, shutting the door behind her. 

She couldn't ask what he meant, not with other people around, so she followed him into the building, up the stairs, and into their rehearsal room. Hyunwoo joined them in the hallway and started talking to Bang. Eunhong left them to it, dropping her bag next to the couch and pulling out her iPod to set up music. By the time Hyunwoo had finished with Bang, Eunhong had forgotten all about the conversation as she warmed up to get started on the day.

Hyunwoo had expected the call to his supervisor's office since he'd talked to Bang and Zelo that morning. He hung up his phone and headed over, knocking firmly on the heavy wooden door once and waiting to be called in.

Yoosuk's office always felt to Hyunwoo like the man needed to compensate for something. His large, dark wood desk took up almost half of the office and held only a phone, his computer monitor, and the blotter with two indents where he rested his elbows, usually to put his fingers together in a steeple. He did that now after gesturing Hyunwoo into one of the two straight backed chairs in front of the desk, with matching wood and highly uncomfortable. The sun had moved far enough in the window on one side of the office that it didn't hit Hyunwoo in the eyes. One merciful thing about this meeting. 

"Why did you give Bang and Zelo a night off?" Yoosuk asked without preamble, his eyes boring into Hyunwoo's.

"They've been working hard, and I thought they could use a break. Zelo asked for it, and I saw no reason not to give it to them," he added at Yoosuk's scowl.

"Why did she want a night off?" Yoosuk asked, an aggravated demand rather than a request for more information.

"She didn't say," Hyunwoo said, and tugged on his sleeve, out of sight of his supervisor.

Yoosuk's scowl deepened, and he frowned. "Did you ask her why she wanted the night off?"

Hyunwoo hesitated, considering the question. "No," he said after a moment. He had, and he didn't want to tell Yoosuk her reason. "I didn't think it was important. She wanted the night off, and I felt that they'd been doing the work to merit it." He tugged on his shirt sleeve again.

Yoosuk glanced at his monitor, where he probably had Bang and Zelo's schedule up so he could see it. 

The movement reminded Hyunwoo of a teacher he'd hated in high school, so much so that he had to grip his hands together to keep from laughing. And to keep from going around the desk and smacking the man. That could definitely get him fired.

Yoosuk looked back at Hyunwoo, and Hyunwoo made sure he had a pleasant expression on, at the very least. "Don't spoil her," Yoosuk said in a flat voice.

Hyunwoo stared at him. Her? Only her? Not them? Giving them one night off after a year of neither of them asking wasn't going to spoil them. He didn't dare voice it, though, nodding his acquiescence. He didn't think he should actually say anything, either, since he didn't think he could keep his tone civil, never mind his words.

"That's all, thank you," Yoosuk said, the gratitude perfunctory and unbelievable. 

Hyunwoo didn't care. He got up and went for the door without looking like he wanted out of there bad enough to break it down. He opened the door and heard Yoosuk mutter something, but he was outside before he realized he'd actually heard it. He stopped and stared at the door he'd just closed behind him, unable to believe what he'd heard.

Yoosuk had muttered something about how Zelo couldn't be meeting a boy, no one in their right mind would want to date her unless it got them something. Her fame was her only attraction.

Hyunwoo shook his head. Toxic place, the pop scene. He thought she needed someone outside the industry to help ground her. He and Bang had talked about her, in some of their meetings, how she seemed to not look around for people to talk to, or anything like that. He'd help keep her grounded, if this thing with this boy (who's name he still didn't know) remained steady.

Considering how hard they'd worked over the last month, how much they'd improved, how well they'd done on the award shows, even if they hadn't won? Letting them go two hours early was one of the best rewards he could think of. He started to dismiss the comment from Yoosuk, and then changed his mind and went to his much more humble office to make note of what Yoosuk had said. Who knew when he might need that.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zelo needs time away. She gets it, and then gets a bomb dropped on her. Hyunwoo deals with his superior.

Zelo looked like she wanted to crawl out of her skin, and had all morning. Bang didn't know what bothered her, or why she looked like she wanted to kill someone just doing their choreography for the next comeback. She hadn't said anything on the way in to work that morning. It bothered him, in a way, although he knew she'd talk to _someone_ , either him or Natasha, or even Yugyeom. Although, he mused, it might have something to do with Yugyeom. Natasha said that the family dinner they'd had last month had gone well. He reached to grab her arm, make her stop dancing and give her an opportunity to talk to him again, and the door opened. Hyunwoo stepped in, his shirt collar so messed up his tie barely stayed under the collar. His eyes zeroed in on Bang. Bang sighed and went to meet him by the door. 

"They moved the photo shoot up a couple of days, to tomorrow," Hyunwoo told him, pulling on his shirt and causing the collar to go even more crooked. Stressful day, then. "You'll need to be in tomorrow early, like around seven, for makeup and wardrobe."

"Is it still here?" Bang asked.

"Yes, thank goodness, or you'd have to be here at five."

"We have to be here at five?" Zelo demanded, joining them. She played with the hem of her shirt, twisting it around her fingers and releasing it, to do it again. 

"No, seven. Because the photo shoot is here," Hyunwoo said.

Zelo looked confused but didn't ask. Bang figured she knew he'd tell her when Hyunwoo left. "Hey, is there any possibility to get another evening off?" she asked.

Hyunwoo looked at her in surprise, and Bang lifted an eyebrow. She hadn't mentioned it to him. It didn't surprise him, when he thought about it. From what Natasha had said, Eunhong and Yugyeom had gotten pretty close. Or as close as they could, with her career choice. "Why?" Hyunwoo asked.

Zelo straightened. "Mostly... it's been a month, we're not in the middle of a promotion, and I got so much out of the last night off, I wanted to have another one."

Hyunwoo looked at her, eyes narrowed, then looked at Bang, who gave him his innocent and confused look. He didn't know anything about it. He also noticed that Hyunwoo didn't ask her what she planned to do. If he guessed she wanted to spend time with Yugyeom, he didn't say anything. "I don't know if that'll be possible," he said slowly. "I know you're working hard, but my supervisor is really against any time off." 

"It doesn't have to be soon," Zelo said, pleading without begging. She'd been good at it when he met her, and had improved in the last few years. She could make the most ridiculous thing sound important to her. "Just... sometime? Maybe before the next promotion cycle starts."

Hyunwoo looked at her, conflicted, and straightened his tie convulsively, making the collar even worse. Bang clenched his fists to keep from straightening it himself. He could see, though, that Hyunwoo was going to tell her no. He'd opened his mouth to tell her when Bang interrupted.

"I'd like a night off to see Yongnam," he said.

Derailed, Hyunwoo looked at him and tilted his head. "You'd like... to see your twin?" he repeated slowly. "Why now?"

Bang smiled, his big gummy smile. "He got a promotion recently. I'd like to celebrate with him."

Hyunwoo looked closer at him, incredulity in his gaze, and Bang looked back at him, projecting innocence. Bang could see the minute he caved, but he didn't show it. "I'll check into it," Hyunwoo said. "It'll probably be okay. You two get back to work." He glanced around the room and then left.

Zelo turned to Bang. "Why would it be okay for you and not for me?" she asked without whining.

Bang shook his head. "I don't know," he said. "It doesn't make sense."

She shrugged, and then smiled. "Tell Yongnam congratulations," she said brightly. 

Bang laughed. "I will. When it actually happens."

Zelo stopped and stared at him. "You mean... you lied?" she asked.

Bang put his hands on his hips. "Like you said, it seemed okay for me, but not for you. I didn't think that was fair."

"But won't that get you in trouble? or Hyunwoo in trouble?"

Bang shook his head. "I'm pretty sure he didn't believe it, anyway," he said. "It's a believable fiction for his supervisor, gets you the night off, and gets me one, too."

"Why did you do that, though?"

Bang smiled and patted her arm. "You are so much happier when you get to see Yugyeom," he said. "I like how you are when you've been around him. Natasha says he's a good guy, so she's okay with him, too. I won't be the reason you can't see him, if I can do something about it. Which I could, so I did."

"You really think Hyunwoo didn't believe you?"

"I do. I bet he jumped on it that fast because it was unfair to you."

Zelo laughed. "He knows you too well, anyway, for you to lie to him plausibly anyway."

Bang grinned. "Naturally," he said.

The next day, Yoosuk summoned Hyunwoo to his office, calling his cell phone and insisting he get to Yoosuk's office immediately. Hyunwoo, ready for whatever Yoosuk asked, rapped at the door and waited for the irritated "Come in" from his superior, tugging on his sleeve. He hated these "meetings" which he often referred to as interrogations. Unfortunately, he couldn't avoid them. He stepped in, closed the door behind him and bowed, and sat down at Yoosuk's irritated gesture. 

Hyunwoo knew why he'd been summoned, and he guessed at the questions he'd be asked. Instead of starting in on the explanations, however, he waited, watching Yoosuk. Yoosuk looked at him, a scowl on his face, elbows planted on his desk and finger tips pressed together. Hyunwoo managed not to tug at anything, didn't show how nervous this display of power made him. It also made him want to smack the man for it, and so he made sure not to even shift in his uncomfortable seat.

Yoosuk scowled when he got no reaction from Hyunwoo. "Bang and Zelo have time off scheduled for next week. What is that for?" he barked, his irritation clear.

"Bang requested time off to spend time with his brother. I couldn't let him go without letting Zelo have time off as well," Hyunwoo said evenly. 

Yoosuk's scowl deepened into a frown, and then eased as Yoosuk took that in and had to admit the truth to that, even if he said nothing out loud. Hyunwoo could tell he didn't like it, though, no matter how "fair" it was.

"The choreographer has stated, and I reported to you, that Bang needs more time to practice their choreography," Hyunwoo added before Yoosuk could say something about that, which he would have, even if it only targeted Zelo, as usual. "He plans to work extra hard to make up for the break last night. Zelo promised to help him, which made Bang less than happy." 

Bang had practically scowled, even though they both knew Zelo could teach him and would, and that she had patience that sometimes even the choreographer didn't. Not that Yoosuk understood that, either, and probably wouldn't have cared if he knew. Hyunwoo gestured aimlessly. "They have plenty of time before their comeback. They're working hard and I felt they deserved the break since they won't get one soon, and their last break happened last month." Which Zelo had also asked for. 

Yoosuk narrowed his eyes at Hyunwoo. "So they'll be working on the choreography for the rest of the week. What will Zelo do? Did you ask her what her plans are?”

The questions came out of nowhere. Hyunwoo scratched his forehead to hide his raised eyebrow, the only evidence of his surprise at the question. "I didn't ask what she planned," he said honestly, letting his hand fall back down even as he returned his eyebrow to it's original state. He could, and had, assumed what she would do. On the other hand, that didn't mean she had gone to see her mysterious boyfriend. He didn't want to know. He knew he'd get this question, and so he'd avoided (and would continue to avoid) asking what she had planned. He felt he didn't need to know, and felt strongly that Yoosuk definitely didn't need to know. Yoosuk wouldn't know through him, if he could at all help it.

Yoosuk grimaced and nearly scowled again. "Thank you," Yoosuk said, and turned to his computer monitor. "That's all."

"You're welcome." Hyunwoo stood and bowed, and then let himself out of the office, breathing a sigh of relief as soon as he closed the door behind him. He'd try to keep the man happy, as long as it didn't mean keeping either of them (but especially Zelo) in a cage. Hyunwoo didn't want Yoosuk to replace him with someone who would leash them and stifle everything their fans liked about them.

Yugyeom relaxed on the couch in his parents' front room, head back so he looked up at the ceiling. He didn't actually see it; he was thinking too much about the call he'd gotten from Eunhong, asking if they could meet at his house instead of the cafe they'd originally planned on visiting. She'd sounded exhausted, and had suggested a movie or something equally relaxing. Yugyeom didn't care what they did, as long as they got to do it together, so he'd agreed. He hadn't needed her explanation that Natasha had friends over, or whatever it had been. He didn't care where they spent time together, and his parents hadn't minded his asking if they could clear out for a couple of hours.

The doorbell rang, and he went to answer the door so fast he nearly lost one of his slippers. He pulled the door open and smiled at her, ushering her in and offering her a pair of slippers. 

She wavered as she bent down to untie her shoes, one hand on the wall, and when she straightened, he could see how hard she had to work to keep her eyes open. "Long day?" he asked.

"Incredibly," she mumbled, and offered a smile that didn't have enough energy to reach her eyes. "Thanks for letting me change our plans."

"It's better than going out," he said, and offered his arm. She took it and leaned on him, and they walked slowly back to the front room. "Let me get you a drink. The movie's all cued up. Just leave me a place to sit, please."

This brought him a brighter smile, and he grinned as he went into the kitchen. He had to stop after he opened the fridge and just breathe. Even exhausted, she was stunning and amazing, and... he didn't have the words to describe her. He grabbed a couple of water bottles and went back out, dimming the lights. He set the bottles on the table in front of them, and then sank down next to her. "Need anything else?" he asked, opening one bottle and setting it in front of her.

Eunhong looked at him blankly, and then her eyes cleared. "No, thank you. Well, maybe a blanket, if I get cold."

"It's on the back of the couch, within reach. Just say the word."

She smiled at him, and he smiled back without letting on how his heart skipped. He grabbed the remote and started the movie, something low key. Before five minutes had passed, she leaned on him, her head on his shoulder, body going limp. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked, pausing the movie.

"Yeah," she mumbled. "Just tired."

"I bet." He started the movie again, then reached back to pull down the blanket draped over the back of the couch. He lay it over her, smiling as she nestled into him, and then turned the sound down. "Close your eyes," he suggested, and she mumbled something that might have been thanks - he couldn't tell for sure - and shifted a little to get comfortable. 

He didn't think the scene had even changed before she fell asleep, her breath soft on his neck. He muted the movie completely and then relaxed himself, careful to keep her comfortable. 

She must have had a busy day, he thought, resting his cheek on the top of her head. He could forget how tall she was, when she leaned against him like this, and he smiled at the thought. He didn't mind her height, never had. This was possibly the closest he would get to heaven on this earth, he decided after a moment, his eyes on the flickering screen but seeing nothing that went on there. He didn't even mind that she slept. That she felt safe enough around him to sleep amazed him, no matter how exhausted she was. She could have just canceled, but she'd come, and he could just... sit next to her and enjoy the feel of her resting on him. 

Movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention, and he turned his head, careful not to disturb Eunhong. His mother stood in the hallway, the light from the movie lighting her expression enough for him to read it. She smiled at him and walked on down the hallway, and he smiled back. Yugyeom had brought home girls before, but his mom had never just... walked past with that sort of smile. She'd stared, glared, sometimes, or even ignored the girl. This time, it felt like she approved. He didn't know what made the difference, and he wouldn't argue with it. Not when he felt this strongly about Eunhong.

Eunhong lay curled up in her bed two days later, half asleep, her comforter pulled up over her head, and her phone pressed to her ear. She'd had to change where she charged it, because this happened more often than not. As in, almost every night. "What are you up to, for the rest of the week?" she asked Yugyeom.

"I don't know." He sounded as sleepy as she did, and she wondered if he lay in his bed too. "I'd hoped this job would give me some direction, and it did. It wasn't the direction I wanted." 

"As in?"

"As in, I definitely do not want to do landscaping for the rest of my life."

She snickered. "I can't see you doing that for the rest of your life," she admitted.

"You didn't see me doing it at all," he shot back.

"True," Eunhong said, and yawned. "You also didn't talk about it much, so I could guess you weren't too excited about it."

"Yeah." Yugyeom sighed. "It's frustrating, because I tried a bunch of different parts of the business, too. Nothing really grabbed my attention." He went quiet, and Eunhong listened to him breathe. She liked that, except when she was trying to stay awake. "I might do my military service soon," he said slowly, before she could say something either highly intelligent or something she'd regret immediately. "I mean, I'm not finding anything I like here, nothing's jumping out at me when I check for jobs, and I keep thinking I'd just get it over with, see what it could bring me. If nothing else, it'll give me a couple of years to figure it out."

That jolted her awake, her heart doing a swan dive to her stomach. "What brought on this decision?" she asked, trying to sound normal.

"I only have a couple of weeks left on this job," he told her. "I think they'd like to hire me permanently. I just can't... I can't keep doing it."

"You really can't find anything?" she asked after a moment.

"No. I've looked, I've tried everywhere I could think of."

Eunhong bit her lip. "It sounds like the military is a good option, then," she said slowly, opposing the whole idea with all of her sunken heart. Sure, he had to go in, he had to serve, but now? When they were just catching up, just starting to... She sighed and shoved the thought away. They weren't starting to do anything.

"You just zoned out on me," Yugyeom said, laughing softly. "You should probably go to sleep."

"Yeah. You too." She didn't want to. She had started to drift, though, and if he noticed, she definitely needed to get to sleep.

"I will. Good night, Eunhong. I'll talk to you later."

"Good night."

She hung up, made sure her phone was plugged in, and set it on the floor next to her bed, tucked a little under it, then snuggled in further, pulling her comforter to under her chin. It would be rough without him, without their semi-constant communication. That back-and-forth made her happier, according to Yongguk, who'd commented more than once that she seemed so much happier after she'd spent time with Yugyeom. She relied on his text messages and his phone calls. The call like tonight had become part of her bedtime routine now. 

She didn't want him to go, and that knowledge rocked her world, just enough for her to realize how much he'd come to mean to her. She couldn't be selfish, though. If she had a regular (well, okay, non-idol) occupation, she'd have something to offer, a support, a reason for him not to go. Honestly, now was probably the best time for him. He had to go, she knew that. She'd missed Yongguk when he'd gone, but she'd survived. She would survive this, somehow. 

Thinking about her life without him, the fan meetings and showcases and promotions and... and everything else that made up her day, she nearly flinched at the loneliness she felt. She couldn't say she was alone, not with Yongguk and Hyunwoo and Natasha and her partner. They had become her home, her family, even if Hyunwoo wouldn't care if she told him. Yugyeom had wormed his way in, too. Well, not wormed, because she'd invited him with open arms and he'd come in without hesitation.

So what would she do without him? And what should she say, or not say, to him? Her thoughts circled around and around until they eventually slowed and she fell asleep thinking about it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eunhong gets some news, has feels, and is ambushed by the Bang siblings. Therefore she acts on those feelings. Hyunwoo deals with the fallout from his superior.

Zelo's phone rang. She knew she should have turned it down or off. She also knew exactly who was on the other end of that call, thanks to her customized ringtone. Bang looked at her through the mirror, and when she didn't pause, he also continued through the song. It felt weird, honestly. Zelo had spent the last few weeks, since Yugyeom had told he wanted to do his military service, focused on her dance, on her rap, on anything that would keep her from thinking about his absence.

It didn't stop her from exchanging texts with him, or keep her from talking to him at night, on the few nights she hadn't worn herself out completely. She tried to do that, to keep her mind off it.

This call shouldn't have happened. Yugyeom knew better than to call her. She hoped he'd left a voicemail when the ringing finally stopped. She turned her attention back to what they worked on. They didn't have much time until their next promotion, and right now, they had to work hard on everything they did. 

"No more," Bang said about half an hour later, sinking to the floor in the most dramatic fashion Zelo had ever seen. She laughed, hands braced on her knees, her laughter more breathy than usual as she panted. When she felt steady enough, she walked over to her bag and picked up her phone. Yes, a voice mail, as well as a missed call from Yugyeom. She sat down on the couch - well, flopped - and listened to the message he'd left. "Sorry, I forgot. Give me a call when you get a chance, please? And keep practicing! You're awesome." It made her smile.

Not sure of his schedule, since his job had finished last week, she sent him a text. 

Her phone rang immediately, and she answered it. "Hey."

"Hey. I got the details for going into service," Yugyeom said, sounding caught between excitement and disappointment. "I'm going to miss you."

"You got it? Already?"

"Yeah. You want the details?"

"Of course." She tried to sound more excited than she was, and she wondered how she'd done. He didn't sound like he doubted her.

"Text or email?"

"Email, please. How soon is it?"

"Six weeks out. Not too soon, but not so far that I'll get impatient."

Zelo pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes, trying to think. Six weeks, they'd be in the middle of their next promotions. Almost exactly in the middle, if the promotions went like the last couple had. At least it was after the initial comeback, so that was one saving grace.

Movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. Bang stood up and tapped his wrist. Zelo wanted to swear out loud. "I have to go," she said.

"Okay. Hey, one last thing. Is there any chance we can see each other one more time? Just a couple of hours before I go in or something?"

Zelo nodded, even though he couldn't see her. "I'll try," she said. "Talk to you later."

"Later," he said, and hung up. Zelo dropped her phone on her bag, then got to her feet, remarkably numb to the whole thing. She couldn't believe it. He really was going.

"What did he say?" Bang asked, taking her hand to keep her from continuing. "What is it?"

"Nothing, really," she said and rubbed her face, not willing to actually believe it. Of all the stupid things, she couldn't get herself together, and they didn't have time to actually spend time on getting her back together.

"What did he want?" Bang asked.

"He wanted to know if we could get back together. I mean, get together one night. I said I'd try, and I will, but I don't know how that will work." She sighed and waved him off. "I’m okay. I don't really want to talk about it right now, can we do something else?"

He nodded and went to turn the music on. "Let's see if I can make it through this one more time without messing up," he said, and although his words were light, she didn't think he really expected her to laugh or even joke with him. She couldn't.

How was she going to manage to get through everything without Yugyeom?

Eunhong was glad when Yongguk didn't say anything about that phone call for the rest of the day. She didn't know how she wanted to react to it, either, and it was easier not to think about it at all. By the end of the day, she just wanted to go home and sleep, so she took Yongguk's offer to drive her home.

"You've been quiet all day," he said once they'd left the company parking lot. "What happened?"

Eunhong sighed. "It's... Yugyeom got his enlistment date."

"Huh." He said nothing else, although the traffic didn't warrant his concentration. After a couple of minutes, once she'd decided he wouldn't say anything else, he asked, "What are you thinking?"

"I don't want him to go," she said flatly. "It makes me feel stupid and selfish."

"You aren't," he said immediately. "Why don't you want him to go?"

Eunhong gave him an incredulous look, long enough for him to be able to see it when he stopped at a red light. "He's my friend, and...."

"And?" he asked after she didn’t continue that train of thought.

She wasn't going to tell him that. "There isn't anything else."

He gave her a look that mirrored hers, then the light turned green and he started forward again. "I don't believe that, but I can tell you don't want to talk about it. I won't press it tonight." He glanced at her, then turned into her neighborhood. "I think you ought to tell him."

Eunhong stared at him, the comment so unexpected. "Tell him that I don't want him to go?" she repeated, just to make sure she understood.

"How you feel," Yongguk said, slowing for another turn. 

Eunhong didn't know how to take the tone. She'd never heard him say something like that before. Granted, they'd never had a conversation on this topic, either. "And make him feel guilty?" she asked, hoping he understood she really did want to understand what he tried to tell her.

"No, not...." He stopped at a stop sign and looked at her. "Not with the goal of making him feel guilty," he explained. "Give him something to come home to. Something to think about when he's bored or too tired to think about anything else. Give him a reason to excel at training and everything he has to do." He smiled. "That depends on how he feels, naturally."

"What happens if he's... if he doesn't feel the same way I do?" Eunhong asked. 

Yongguk turned the corner. "It's better to know," he told her, keeping his speed relatively slow. "What if he won't say anything because he doesn't want to impose on you? Or if he doesn't want to distract you?"

Eunhong blinked. "Huh," she said, and stared out the windshield, not even seeing the familiar neighborhood. She hadn't thought of that.

He pulled into the driveway a few minutes later, and other than trading a casual good night, they didn't say anything else. Eunhong didn't even realize it until she entered the code for the front gate. Shaking her head, she made sure to close the gate behind her, and went in the front door, locking it before putting her slippers on. 

She headed for the kitchen, still thinking about what Yongguk had said, needing a drink of water. Or an excuse not to go to bed yet. She didn't expect the light in the kitchen, or Natasha, sitting at the table, working on something. Eunhong waved at her and grabbed a glass, filling it with water. "You're up late," she said, turning to look at the kitchen table.

Natasha smiled. "Working on the accounts," she said, and gestured for the chair across from her. "Join me?"

Eunhong hesitated, and then sat down, watching as Natasha put the papers away into a folder. "I hope it's good news," she said.

"It's good enough," Natasha said. "I don't have anything outstanding, and things are going well."

"I’m glad," Eunhong said absently, and took a drink of her water. She set the glass down with a sigh.

Natasha smiled. "Need someone to talk to?"

Eunhong looked at her in surprise, and then she smiled ruefully. "Yeah," she admitted.

"What's going on?"

"Yugyeom got his enlistment date."

Natasha tilted her head. "You don't sound happy."

"I'm not, and I don't... I don't want him to go. I mean, I know he has to go. I don't want him to go now."

Natasha frowned. "Why is he going now?"

Eunhong sighed. "He doesn't know what he wants to do. He's feeling stuck, and he figured he'd just get it over with, and maybe the experience will help him decide what to do as a career."

"Smart," Natasha said, approvingly. "I knew I liked him for a reason." Eunhong snorted a laugh. "Are you going to tell him?"

Eunhong gave her an incredulous look. "That I don't want him to go? No. I mean, I don't really want to stop him from going, and it would be different if I were a student or... or some sort of office worker or whatever. If we could see each other daily, if I could actually be in his life instead of on the periphery like I am now and could maybe help him decide, it would be different."

"Will you tell him how you feel?"

"About not wanting him to go? No."

"That's smart," Natasha said, and Eunhong let out her breath in a sigh. At least she could do something right. "So, why don't you want him to go? I don't mean you should tell me, unless you want to. You need to think about your reasons, and tell him."

"Tell him? Why?" Eunhong demanded, startled.

Natasha smiled. "It's good for him to know you'll miss him. It lets him know where he stands." She smiled and leaned back, a nostalgic look in her eyes. "I had the same worries with my partner. The same conflict, not wanting him to go. Before he went in, he told me how he felt. That was so freeing. I knew where I stood, and I didn't have to spend those two years wondering if I should even mention it. I could make decisions, based on those feelings. About what to do, where to study, whether to date, things like that."

Eunhong nodded slowly, and took another drink, thinking on that. "Did it make a difference to him?"

"He said it did," Natasha said, losing the nostalgic look. "When he told me how he felt, I told him how I felt as well. It took me almost a week to get up the courage, but I did it." Eunhong laughed at the thought of Natasha being shy about anything. Natasha grinned. "Yeah, I know. Exchanging those feelings, getting it all in the open, gave us both parameters on our actions. It was incredibly freeing, not to wonder how he felt."

Eunhong sighed and slumped back in her chair. "I don't know if I dare."

"Well, you do have a different situation," Natasha agreed. "You know we'll clear out if you want to talk to him here. It should be in private, especially for you."

"Yes," Eunhong said, imagining the explosion that could happen if someone happened to overhear her confession. It made her head hurt. She sipped at her water, surprised to find the glass empty. "I guess that means it's time for bed," she said, feeling her exhaustion crash in on her.

"For me too," Natasha said.

Eunhong put her cup in the sink, and started for her room. Natasha caught her before she got very far, and hugged her. Eunhong leaned into it, no longer surprised at how short Natasha was now, but wishing for the first time in a long time that she wasn't so tall herself. It helped her relax some, though, and then she let go and went to get everything plugged in and all of her bedtime stuff done.

She turned off the light and crawled into bed, curling up under the covers. She'd have to talk to Hyunwoo and get a chance to see Yugyeom before he went in, to give him a proper good-bye. As soon as she made that decision, the tension in her shoulders and back melted, and she fell asleep.

Hyunwoo stood outside of Yoosuk's expensive wooden office door and thought about how much he hated the sight of it. He knew why Yoosuk had called him here. Hyunwoo hadn't even given it a second thought when Zelo had asked for a night off to say goodbye to her friend. She knew she had to come back and practice, since they were in the middle of the promotions, and they had a showcase that weekend. She hadn't protested the two hours he'd specified. 

Now, he had to defend his decision to his boss. He hated that he had to do it, because it felt like a trivialization of Zelo’s feelings, of her self as a person. There wasn't much he could do about it. With a sigh, he knocked and entered at Yoosuk's invitation. Hyunwoo sat down in one of the chairs, put his hands in his lap, and waited, watching his superior. 

"What is this missing two hours tomorrow night?" Yoosuk asked, pointing at his desk. Probably the schedule for the next day lay under his finger. 

"Zelo asked for the evening off. A friend of hers is enlisting, and she wants to say good-bye. I couldn't justify the whole evening, not with the showcase coming up, so I suggested two hours. She'll come back afterward and continue practicing. She agreed to the compromise."

Yoosuk scowled at the schedule. "When does he go in?"

"The next morning."

Yoosuk looked up, eyes sharp. "She's not going to see him off?"

Hyunwoo met his gaze evenly. "No. She wanted to, but her friend said he'd rather she didn't. The night before is a good compromise."

Yoosuk looked back down at the schedule. "Yes, it is," he mused. "That's probably for the best."

The tone of his voice, something about how satisfied he sounded, made Hyunwoo's skin crawl. The way Yoosuk treated Zelo made him think about hitting the man, and he really had to fight to keep those thoughts in his head. He found it even harder to not actually follow through on those ideas.

"She'll have to make up those two hours," Yoosuk said, interrupting his thoughts. A good thing, probably, because he had started to consider actually hitting the man. "You'll tell her."

Hyunwoo kept his disgust from showing on his face. "I will pass it on," he said stiffly. 

He wouldn't, of course. She'd already talked about that, when they'd decided on the time and how long and everything else. He'd even explained that. He'd tried to show she was taking responsibility for these choices, and somehow, it seemed to go right over Yoosuk's head.

"Thank you. That's all." Yoosuk waved him away.

Hyunwoo didn't hesitate, standing up and bowing - barely polite enough - and leaving. Just before he shut the door, Yoosuk muttered something that made Hyunwoo want to change his mind and hit him anyway. "Can't be that serious or he'd want her to see him off."

Hyunwoo managed not to slam the door, but it took more effort than he'd expected, and he stood outside the door trying to calm down before he went to his own office and possibly came in contact with someone he didn't want to yell at. 

If Yoosuk couldn't see that her friend didn't want her to see him off to keep him off the radar of her fans, Hyunwoo wouldn't try to explain it to him. He'd thought the complete opposite. Her friend liked her enough to keep her private life as private as he could. Which, if he let it, would scare him. It meant the young man could be around for a long time.

Yugyeom pressed the doorbell on the gate, and then checked himself over one more time. It didn't matter what he looked like, not for this, but he still did it because he was so nervous. Eunhong hadn't said if the rest of her family would be there. He hoped not. He wouldn't be able to get out what he wanted to say to her if they were, and he didn't have much time. His nerves for the evening crowded out his nerves for tomorrow, just enough that he could barely recognize they were there.

The gate buzzed and he went through, carefully closing it behind him and then bounding up the walk to where he could see Eunhong in the doorway, smiling. She looked like she'd just come from practice, which he knew she had. She'd mentioned it when they figured out this meeting, getting together to talk. To celebrate. To say good-bye. Or at least farewell for a while. 

"Come on in," she said, backing up so he could follow her. He took his shoes off and put on the slippers she offered, and then her hand took his and she led him through the darkened house to the kitchen. Her hair, bright blonde, shone in the darkness and he had to smile. She shone as well.

The kitchen looked different than the last time he'd been there. A white tablecloth covered the table, and on it he could see formal dishes, wine glasses, and candles. Only two places, thankfully, and he relaxed a little. She sat him down, then went to the fridge and pulled out his favorite dessert, something she'd actually quizzed him about. She set it in the center, and then sat down across from him and served him. 

"How was your day?" she asked after the first, wonderful, flavorful bite.

Yugyeom smiled at her. "It was long," he said. "Busy." So many goodbyes, double checking packing lists, so much to do.... "How was yours?"

"Long," she said, and smiled. "I'd say busy, but you used that one. Tiring. We're trying to make sure everything is exact - or as exact as we can make it - and that much repetition grates on both of us. It's good that we can see improvement, but it's still... frustrating." She sighed and took another bite.

The conversation sounded normal, like they had regularly, and yet, he could sense the nerves. Hers, his, and yet it felt so stilted, like they merely went through the motions. 

After a couple more bites, Eunhong put her fork down with a thunk that made him think she was done. "I wish you didn't have to go."

Yugyeom stopped chewing his bite and stared at her, trying to wrap his mind around that. "What?" he asked, and quickly swallowed.

"I know you have to, and I'm glad you are," Eunhong said, not scrambling like he might have if he'd said it. "I just wish... you didn't have to." She frowned down at the dessert as if it offended her. "I can't say it right. I even tried making it into a rap. It won't come out right."

He smiled. "Take your time. Just not so much that you have to go before you get it out."

Eunhong laughed at that, and her shoulders eased. That was a good sign. He'd rather she be relaxed than a tense mess. "I really like you," she said, taking him off guard again, and his attention snapped back to her face. "I know this is a bad time to tell you, and my choice of career doesn't make anything easy, never mind a relationship. I really appreciate how patient you've been with me and this... hell of a schedule." She sighed and smiled wistfully at him. "I would love to be able to date you, make it normal, or at least as normal as it gets, with Bang and Zelo taking up my life. The kind of normal where I can call you my boyfriend to my family. I know it's the wrong time," she said again, then shrugged helplessly, her cheeks a warm pink. 

Yugyeom stared at her, trying to get his mind and heart to start working again. Date. Boyfriend. He kept getting stuck on that.

Eunhong cleared her throat, and he looked at her again, her eyes shadowed by the mop of bright blonde hair, her mouth in a hesitant smile. "Would it be okay with you if we start dating, when you are finished?"

"Yes," Yugyeom said, almost before she'd managed to finish the question. He couldn't do much more than that, trying to pull himself together. She'd said everything he'd wanted to say to her. He smiled at the relief in her expression. "I think it's a good idea," he said finally, when his mind had started working again. It took too long, because around her everything seemed so much brighter and focused. "I know it's hard. I'm used to that. I mean, I don't know what you'd call the relationship we have. It's what you can give, and I am so thankful for all of it. I definitely want to date you when I get out of the Army."

Eunhong looked as relieved as he felt. "Oh, good," she said, smiling at him. "I didn't know for sure how you felt, and I wanted you to know where I stood."

Yugyeom tilted his head at her, and then stood up and walked around the table. He didn't know about looking down at her like this. He liked that they could see eye to eye, same height. "I think this is the best way to let you know how I feel. Can I kiss you?"

Her eyes widened. "Can you... yes, please," she breathed, and he leaned down and did so, a gentle press of his lips to hers. Then he went back to his chair and reached his hand across the table. Without hesitation, she put her hand in his, and he squeezed it. 

He had to let go so they could finish their desserts, the conversation light and cheerful. He barely noticed what they talked about, because her eyes were so bright and they glittered in the light. He couldn’t believe she wanted to date him, and he was grateful she did.

Too soon, they finished, and he helped her clean up the dishes. She took him back through the darkened house to the front door, where he put his shoes on. When he stood back up, she watched him with an expression he didn't know. "Can I kiss you good-bye?" she asked.

"Yes," he said, and she did. It was just as sweet this time, that same brief press of lip to lip. "I'll call before I go in tomorrow," he said on the porch, before taking the stairs down to the walkway.

"I'll wait for the call," she told him, her expression serious. 

He nodded, not sure what else to say, so he walked down the steps and through the gate. When he looked back before turning the corner, she still stood there, watching him, looking as lonely and as lovely as ever. He waved at her, and she waved back, and then he turned the corner and walked toward his bus stop without looking back again, missing her already.

Zelo's phone rang, and she abandoned the choreography to lunge across the room to answer it, nearly knocking Bang down. She might have if he hadn't stepped out of the way. She knew who it was, because her ringtone for Yugyeom. She knew what was going on this morning, and she was not going to miss this call. "Hello?"

"Did I interrupt something?" he asked, half amused and half worried.

"No," Zelo gasped.

"You're out of breath," he pointed out. 

She sank down on the floor, leaning against the wall. "Okay, yes, but Bang knew it was coming and it's fine. I mean, he expected this interruption." Only then did she realize that the music had gone off, and at a quick look around, her partner wasn't anywhere around. "It's okay. He's willing to work with me on this. We'll have shorter breaks later, so I don't have to get off the phone too soon."

"I'm glad. I forgot to say something last night," Yugyeom said.

Zelo snapped back to attention, giving up on figuring out where Bang might have gone. "Oh?"

"Yeah." Yugyeom sounded self-conscious. "I wanted to tell you to work hard and do your best. Not that I think you won't," he added. "I just want to know you're doing okay, doing your best."

"I will," Zelo said. "If you promise me to do the same."

"Done," Yugyeom said without hesitation. "I'll be the best soldier they've had in a long time."

Zelo laughed softly, but it didn't last long, and she had to stop to keep the laughter from turning into sobs. "It's not fair."

"I know," Yugyeom said. "I agree. It's not." He paused. "I'm glad you didn't come this morning. You would have gotten crushed, there are so many people."

Zelo didn't know how to respond to that, managing a hum in response because she couldn't figure out what to even say. After a moment, she sighed. "I'll miss you." 

"I'll miss you too," Yugyeom said, his words softer, tender. "I'll send you an email as soon as I know what my address is, and we can talk that way. It won't be as immediate--" A burst of noise drowned his words. "That's me," he said, louder. "I have to go. I'll talk to you soon. Good-bye."

"Good-bye." She listened until the noise cut off, meaning he'd hung up. 

Slowly, Zelo got to her feet and stood there, staring at the mirrors with her phone in her hand, not seeing anything. It wasn't that long, two years wasn't that much. She'd survived without Bang when he'd gone in, and she could do it again. Yugyeom meant nearly as much as Bang had… no. He did mean as much as Bang, in a different way, in a way she couldn't articulate or even understand. She just… she didn't want to think about this. Her gaze sharpened, went into focus, and she glared at the mirror, suddenly hating it and everything it represented. She put her hand up to throw the phone at it, and someone grabbed her wrist.

Twisting, Zelo looked at Bang with narrowed eyes, her hand still caught by his. "If you break the mirror, they'll make you pay for it. I know you’ll break your phone, and you’ll regret it, aside from having to pay for it," he said gently. 

She didn't care, his words going past her without her understanding much of it. The compassion and understanding in his eyes made her look away, she didn't want to see that. "It's not fair," she muttered, and tried to pull her wrist free from Bang's grip. 

"It's not," he said, and deftly took the phone away from her before letting her go. She stepped back and stared past him, mind still aching with the injustice and the whole stupid…. "He was good for you," Bang told her, and she blinked, turning her attention to him.

"What?"

"He was good for you. I'll try to help you stay sane for the next two years," he added. "Because we want you to be hale and healthy when he gets out."

She stared at him, and his face, his body went out of focus as tears filled her eyes. She covered her face with her hands and sobbed. Bang put his arms around her and held her close, letting her cry, and she buried her eyes into his shoulder, holding onto him, certain that if she let go she'd fall. It made her feel safe, like she had when they'd first met and she'd needed that safety so badly, and she needed it now more than she'd expected.

It took a long time before that passed, the sobs and everything that she'd had to keep in over the last six weeks so she didn't let Yugyeom know how much she really didn't want him to go. It did, eventually, and she stepped back and let Bang go. "Let me clean up, and we can start again," she said, and at his nod, she left the room to use the bathroom and clean up her face. She didn't want to do this, not without a nap, but she didn't have a choice. Not if she wanted to keep Hyunwoo's superior off his back and off hers. She sighed, blotted her eyes, and washed the rest of her face, avoiding the mirror. She could do that for the rest of the day, and she'd sleep well that night. She would make sure of it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zelo gets a chance to see Yugyeom after too long apart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Names are random and relate to no one.
> 
> I suspect a lot of this is pretty wrong. Please forgive me.

The days alternately flew and dragged. It felt empty, to not have Yugyeom to text, and Zelo found out just how much of her time she spent talking to him, even if half the time they didn't actually talk. It got easier, once she had his email, and they could talk a little. Communicate, not talk. It helped to know he was there and supported her and she could do the same for him. She tried not to tell him how much she missed him, because she didn't want him to become distracted. They'd both committed to working hard, and she wouldn't be the reason he couldn't because she'd said something inadvisable.

It helped to be so busy, between promotions and everything else they wound up doing, and she kept her spirits up and stayed careful about her health. She couldn't do her best if she let herself get sick. Bang had to tell her that at least twice. The cooling weather helped, too, taking her mind off the time she could spend with Yugyeom in the sun. Although it did make her hope he was staying warm enough. Every time she asked, he told her he was. Considering what she wasn't telling him, she didn't know if she could trust him. On the other hand, soldiers had been training in this sort of weather for decades. Centuries. The reminder didn't help.

They took a break near the middle of the afternoon one day, and Zelo sat down on the floor to try to stretch out a leg that felt like it wanted to cramp, and to try to figure out why. She knew she'd drunk enough water, she made sure of it. Maybe she'd been working too hard? She frowned. They didn't have any new steps in this choreography, so it couldn't be an unfamiliar movement. Although maybe a different combination? No, that wouldn't do it.

"You don't look as tense as you usually do," Bang said, and Zelo looked up automatically, still leaning into the stretch. She found him in the mirror, talking to Hyunwoo behind her at the door. 

Hyunwoo did look much less tense, although she hadn't really noticed it as such. He hadn't tugged his shirt askew, and he hadn’t needed his tie straightened (or even retied all together) in a few days. As long as she could remember back, anyway. He stood easy, too, like he didn't hold all his will power to keep from killing someone in his shoulders. 

"My supervisor hasn't been breathing down my neck," Hyunwoo said wryly. He glanced at Zelo, and noticed her gaze in the mirror. He turned to include her in the conversation. "All the time off made him… touchy. Nervous."

"It wasn't that much," Bang protested before Zelo could get up the energy to say the same thing. She would have said it so she sounded much more affronted. She decided she was glad Bang had said it first.

"I know," Hyunwoo said. "Three nights over three and a half months isn't much at all. Try telling _him_ that." He gestured rudely upward. 

Zelo snickered and covered her mouth to hide it, grinning at Hyunwoo’s knowing smile. "I appreciated the evenings off," she said, sobering. "They really helped. Thank you so much for getting them for me."

The muscle in her leg eased, settling into an ache she knew all too well. She had overworked it. Well, her body would just have to adjust. She got to her feet, shook out her leg, and turned to look at Bang directly, instead of through the mirror. "Are you ready to get started again?"

Bang frowned at her. "You've been really driven lately. What's going on?"

Zelo shrugged, trying to make it into no big deal. "I want to make sure I'm doing my best. I told Yugyeom I would. I promised him I would."

Hyunwoo smiled, his eyebrows raised in something like surprise, and he patted Bang's shoulder before walking out. Now he knew Yugyeom's name, not that it would help him any. Or harm her. Bang frowned again and walked over to her. "You were already doing well," he said.

"It wasn't my best, or you wouldn't have noticed an improvement," Zelo pointed out.

Bang laughed, his frown finally gone. "You have a point," he said. "Yes, I'm ready to get to work." He walked over to the music player and turned it on.

Two months later, things hadn't changed. She spent most of her free time in the practice room or the studio, working through the feeling that she couldn't stop or she'd collapse, or do something incredibly stupid. Whatever that might be. 

"You're starting to drag," Bang said one afternoon, pulling her over to the couch and shoving their coats out of the way before pushing her down on it. "You don't have the energy you had before. I'm getting worried about you."

Zelo shrugged. "It's between promotions," she pointed out. "It's a slow day, and we don't have to work as hard right now."

"It's been longer than just today. I didn't think you'd make it through to our good-bye stage."

She stared at him, not sure what to say, and to her relief, her phone rang. She leaned over and grabbed it, without looking at the caller ID, glad to have the break from Bang's worried look. "Hello?"

"Hey," a familiar, warm voice said, and all the empty places inside her filled up. "What are you doing?"

"What are you doing? You usually don't call." She remembered that her phone had glitched, and she'd fixed everyone's ring tones again, except his. She'd have to do that tonight. 

"You've sounded down, lately. Everything okay?"

She almost lied to him. "It's… not great, no," she finally said.

"Want a hug?"

"If it can be from you, absolutely. What's the chance of that happening?"

"Well, if you'll come down and sign me in--"

"You're here?" she demanded, and bounced to her feet. Without a look at Bang, she ran out the door and down the hall for the stairs. "What are you doing here?" 

"I had leave, and originally, it was too short to spend any time with you," Yugyeom said, his amusement clear. "My parents had something come up they couldn't get out of, so I thought I'd check and see if you were free."

"Oh, right. I didn't put it on my calendar, because I didn't want to get upset," she said, and burst through the door, careening down the hall to the lobby. She spotted him and stopped abruptly. He looked so different, like a soldier, tall, standing straight, his hair clipped short. He looked happy, his smile when he saw her the same as it had been all the time she'd known him. She hung up her phone, lurched forward, and took his arm, pulling him to the receptionist to get him signed in and a visitor's pass. Pinning it on his lapel, she pulled him to the elevator. "I can't take a long break, but you can be here for awhile. I'll walk you down when you have to leave."

The elevator opened, and they stepped aside to let everyone out. No one but them got in, and she pressed the close doors button before choosing her floor. Then she hugged him, and he wrapped his arms around her, squeezing as tightly as she squeezed him. "That sounds like a plan," he said into her ear, and she sighed and rested her head on his shoulder. 

The elevator dinged at their floor, and she reluctantly let go of him, leading him out and down to the practice room. Bang grinned at her as they walked in. "You have a groupie," he told her, setting aside the pad of paper he’d been writing on.

"I do," Zelo said, and glanced at Yugyeom, then back at Bang. "Bang Yongguk, this is my friend, Kim Yugyeom. Yugyeom, my partner, Bang Yongguk." They bowed to each other, and Zelo smiled. "I figure if they don't know you're here, no one can complain that I'm distracted."

"Has that happened?" Yugyeom asked, shedding his coat and laying it neatly over hers.

"Yes," Zelo said.

"I have an idea," Bang said, and she turned to look at him, immediately not liking his smile. "You should get a look at the solo she's going to do at the next showcase, because you probably won't get to see it."

Yugyeom brightened. "Hey, that would be awesome," he said.

Zelo looked at him in surprise, not expecting that level of acceptance, and blushed. "You want to?"

"Yes, very much," he told her, and smiled.

She blushed further. "Okay. I have to warn you, I'm not happy with it. Oh." She smiled back at him, remembering where they’d met, and how. "If you see something you think needs to change, please tell me? Something is wrong and I can't figure out what it is, which means I can't fix it."

"I can do that," Yugyeom said, and sat down on the couch with Bang.

Zelo went to start the music, and got into her stance to begin. As soon as the music started, so did she, and she got lost in it as she usually did. This was why she'd joined TSE, why she'd wanted to be an idol. About a minute from the end, she had to think again, had to figure out what had happened. She finished right, barely, but it still felt like the whole thing had been ruined.

"I didn't see anything," Bang said, which he'd said often during these more than frustrating sessions.

"I think I did," Yugyeom said, and got up. "Start where you feel like it goes wrong."

For the next 45 minutes, they worked their way through her choreography, and finally, she felt like she might be able to figure out how to get to the end. "Thank you," she said, hugging him again.

He hugged her back. "I have to go," he said softly.

Zelo let him go and smiled sadly. "I figured," she said. "I'll walk you down."

They took the stairs this time, close together but without holding hands. "I'm considering making the military my career," he said, halfway down the first flight. 

"It might be hard, with both of us so busy," she said, and then looked at him. "If you're still interested in dating," she added, stammering.

"I'm interested," he told her. "It was fun, helping you with your solo."

"I'm sorry I had to work while you were here…" She trailed off when he held up his hand.

"I expected that. I don't mind. It was nice to spend time with you." He grinned at her, stopping at the door leading to the first floor hallway. "I realized something. I don't have a picture of the girl I plan to date."

Zelo smiled. "I can manage to get you something," she said. "How big do you want it?"

"Big enough to hang on a wall, without being too big," he said. "And sign it."

"Done." 

When he'd signed out and gone, she took the stairs back up to the practice room. Inside, she found Bang sitting in the middle of the floor, his yellow pad in front of him and covered in notes and words. She sat down next to him. 

"You're good for inspiration," he said, without looking up, still writing something.

"What? Me? Why?"

"Because of how you are with him. He's a keeper."

"I want to keep him," she said, and smiled. "He seems to want to keep me, too."

Bang looked up and grinned. "Good."

The voice mail message on his phone that Yoosuk wanted to see him did not make Hyunwoo's day any better. Between working out how to get Bang and Zelo where they needed to go, and checking to make sure they had what they needed, he wanted to pull his hair out. Or at least take his tie off. This summons put the icing on the cake.

Hyunwoo had the feeling he knew what Yoosuk wanted. He wished Yoosuk would just… back off, let them be and he'd find that they worked well enough. Better than well enough, honestly. He couldn't ignore it, though, so he knocked on the door maybe sharper than usual. 

"Enter," Yoosuk called. He waved Hyunwoo to a seat as soon as he opened the door, and Hyunwoo sat down, looking at him expectantly. "I understand Zelo had a visitor yesterday," he said before Hyunwoo had actually gotten comfortable.

"Yes," Hyunwoo said. "A friend of hers, the one who went into the military a few months ago. He had leave, and a couple of hours to spare. She signed him in when he showed up, and signed him out." Like the company specified, although he didn't say that.

"What happened while he was here?" Yoosuk demanded.

"According to Bang, he helped Zelo work on her solo for the up-coming showcase. I trust Bang." He tugged on his pants, because he couldn't say he trusted Zelo. At least, Yoosuk wouldn’t accept it on Zelo’s word alone. She'd actually told him, and Bang had confirmed it, although Hyunwoo hadn't asked him to and didn’t need him to. Hyunwoo knew Zelo didn't lie. "She's been frustrated with it, something about the ending not coming out right. She's been trying to fix it for the last couple of weeks." He didn't understand. He'd seen her frustration, though.

Yoosuk looked like he'd swallowed a lemon, lips all puckered in disapproval. "Did she fix it?"

"She says she's got a better grip on what to do, and the choreographer said she looked better this morning when she went through it with him."

Yoosuk looked even more constipated. "We can't have random people popping up and thinking they can come in and disturb our idols," he said firmly. 

"Zelo said she didn't know about it, and that it came up suddenly. She said she even told him she had to keep working, and he didn't mind. They've both been working hard, making up for any lapse in their practice." Hyunwoo didn't believe they'd lapsed on anything. "Neither of them misused the time, and Zelo and Bang both say having new eyes on something like this is always welcome." He tugged on his shirt sleeve this time. “He wasn’t a random person, and he didn’t disturb them. He helped.”

Yoosuk's eyes narrowed, and he scowled. "No more unscheduled visits," he said flatly.

Hyunwoo bit his teeth together to keep from yelling at the man. Had he not heard a word he'd said? He stood abruptly, needing to get out of there, and bowed. "Yes, sir," he said just as flatly.

He didn't scream at his superior that Zelo had improved, that even he and Bang had seen it. He couldn't have said what made the difference, but he could see that she had more confidence in the ending. He thought that the price was worth it, having a guy they didn't know come in. Even Bang had looked energized, had written a couple of new songs on top of it all. Hyunwoo wished he had a superior who could understand that. "Is there anything else?"

"No," Yoosuk said with a dismissive wave, and Hyunwoo stalked toward the door. "I thought the guy would grow out of it," Yoosuk muttered, focused on the schedule on his desk when Hyunwoo glanced at him on the way out the door. "Or she'd see he only wanted her for her fame."

Hyunwoo closed the door and stood there, stunned. He really thought that? Really? After a moment, he gave himself a shake and went to record that comment with the others he’d gathered in the last few months. He didn’t like the picture they were building.

Going back to the barracks felt like culture shock to Yugyeom, although he'd started to feel like going home was more culture shock than coming back. Maybe the difference lay in what he'd done. Getting to see Zelo in her element, helping her with her dance…. He smiled, thinking about it. She'd looked so good, and he could tell she felt better about the ending. Not finished, yet, but close.

He pulled out the picture she'd gotten to him before he came back, and found a place to hang it up, his fingers lingering over her signature. She'd customized it, of course. He liked it and figured it was one of her best pictures. He still liked her better the way he'd seen her in the practice studio, no make-up, hair tousled. He doubted he'd ever get a professional-or non-professional-picture like that.

"Hey, new picture. She's pretty," his bunkmate WonGeun said, leaning against the bunk behind Yugyeom. "Wait a minute. I know her! That's Zelo, right? From Bang and Zelo?"

Yugyeom turned to look at him, startled. "You know her?"

"Of her, yeah. Hey… how'd you get her to sign it with your name? Did you meet her or something?"

Or something, Yugyeom thought, but he didn't say it out loud. Too much to explain. "Something like that." He wished his bunkmate would be quieter, when he realized others had started to gather around his bunk, peering underneath the upper bunk to get a look at the picture he'd just hung up. "I'm a member of her fanclub," he said at WonGeun's curious look, somehow without turning red. WonGeun stared at him. "I like their music, and she's a good dancer. I got into a fanmeet last summer and had a chance to meet them up close."

"You met Zelo?" someone asked from the other side of his bunk. "Girl has _legs_."

"She's a little taller than I am," Yugyeom said. "Standing up, anyway."

The rest of the men started talking about her sex appeal and other things he didn't want to hear about, so he turned back to unpacking. They wandered away, conversation going to other things, and Yugyeom sighed in relief. 

"I can't get over that you actually met her," Wongeun said again. "And got her to personalize it with your name."

Yugyeom shrugged, smiling.

"Are you going to try to see them when they come here?" Wongeun asked.

"I'll try," Yugyeom said. "Knowing how things work out? I don't think I can."

"You'll figure it out," Wongeun said. He clapped Yugyeom on the shoulder, then turned away, getting into his locker for whatever he wanted.

Yugyeom pulled his laptop out of his footlocker and opened it up to start an email. _You'll never guess what happened when I put your picture up…._

The fanmeet lasted an eternity. Zelo hoped the fans couldn’t tell how much she didn’t want to be there, how much she wanted to be somewhere else. Bang knew, because he kept glancing at her. Hyunwoo knew, because she could practically feel him glaring at her. Neither of them probably knew why. Hopefully. Bang might. She might have said something about how Yugyeom's base was a mere ten minutes away and how she hoped to be able to go and ask if she could see him. She didn't have much hope of actually getting to see him, but she hoped anyway. 

Bang leaned over, and the screaming in the auditorium increased exponentially. "It's not much longer," he said, barely loud enough to hear.

Zelo smiled at him in thanks, and turned back to the fan across from the table from her, stars in her eyes. "Hi," she said. 

The fan smiled nervously, stars undimmed, and pushed a copy of the album across the table. 

When she had the next chance, hours later, Zelo checked her watch and despaired at the sight that a whole three minutes had passed. She almost burst into tears. So long. She looked up to see how many had yet to go in front of them, and her breath caught.

Yugyeom stood in the back of the room, in uniform, his coat on and snow melting in his short dark hair. She blinked, trying to make sure she wasn't seeing things, and then turned her attention back to the next fan in front of her, focusing. In between, though, she checked to make sure he hadn't left, to make sure she wasn't imagining things. But no, he was always there, standing patiently, his coat over his arm, looking even more handsome than any soldier had a right to.

Even without checking on the time, it lasted forever. Finally, the announcement that ended it sounded. Zelo stood up with Bang, bowed to cheers, and walked off the stage with waves. They walked through cold, dark halls, and Zelo had to hold on to Bang's arm to keep from turning around to run back to the room, to find Yugyeom and hug him until she couldn't any more.

"Are you okay?" Bang asked, handing her a handkerchief. 

Zelo took it and wiped at her eyes, and then shrugged, not sure what to say. Or even if she could say something. She wiped her face again, not sure when she'd started crying, or even why. 

Bang took his arm from her and put it around her, letting her lean on him, and she kept walking, her steps slow and reluctant, no matter how much her heart yearned to go back.

Instead, they walked into the green room, a more comfortable place to wait for their transportation. She looked around, spotting a couch, a couple of chairs, the wardrobe lady who had their clothes, a soldier holding his coat, drinks and something to snack on. Zelo blinked, rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't seeing things. When she looked again, he still stood there, that familiar fond smile on his face, and she lurched away from Bang to hug Yugyeom, burying her eyes in his neck.

"Hey," his voice rumbled and she almost sobbed out loud. "What are the tears for?"

"I thought I had to go back to that room to see you at all, and they wouldn't let me go," she said, her voice muffled by his uniform shirt. "I was going to try to see you after this, go over to the base and see if they'd let me in. Even if it was just long enough to get a hug."

"You wouldn't have gotten in," Yugyeom told her gently. "I worked it out, to have this time off to come and see you, and they'll make my next leave shorter. I thought it was a good trade."

"Miss Zelo," someone said, and touched her arm. 

Zelo looked up to see the wardrobe lady watching her with a kind of sympathy. "Sorry?"

"You need to change," the woman said. "It'll be more comfortable for you."

Zelo heard the "don't wrinkle these clothes and make more work" in her words, and she flushed. "Yes, of course. Give me just a minute," she said to Yugyeom, and pulled away from him, going to the adjoining room.

"It's true, it only takes her a minute," the wardrobe woman said, and Zelo flushed as she stripped and dressed in her street clothes again. "She's quick."

When she walked back into the Green room, she panicked a moment when she didn't see him. He waved at her from where he sat on the couch, talking to Bang. Bang looked up at the movement, and stood, clapping Yugyeom on the back. He met Zelo halfway to the couch. "I think you'll have about half an hour. I don’t think I can keep Hyunwoo distracted much longer than that."

"Thank you," Zelo said. She sat down next to Yugyeom, and he took her hand, which made her smile. "So, what's going on in your neck of the woods?"

Yugyeom laughed. 

Sometime during their conversation, Hyunwoo pressed a water bottle into her hand. "Make sure she drinks it," he said to Yugyeom, and walked away.

So caught up in listening to Yugyeom, Zelo didn't even notice, twisting the top off and taking a drink. By the time he'd finished catching her up on his experiences, she'd finished her drink and sat close, shoulder to shoulder with her head on his shoulder.

"Is this taking as long for you as it is for me?" she asked him softly, when they'd sat in silence for a minute.

"Yes."

"Are you still planning to make it a career?"

Yugyeom squeezed her hand. "I'm more likely to, now. I checked into housing for families, and it might not be too bad."

Zelo sat up and looked at him. "You checked into…."

"I wanted to be prepared," he said, smiling hesitantly. "Just in case."

Zelo thought about that, her eyes drifting around the room. "It's a good idea," she said, looking straight at him with a smile. His cheeks went pink.

A heavy hand fell on her shoulder. "It's time to go," Hyunwoo said from over her head.

Zelo looked up at him, then nodded. "Okay," she said softly, and got up. "I'm glad I got to see you," she said to Yugyeom as he stood up. 

"I'm glad, too," he said. "Can I give you a hug goodbye?"

"Please," Zelo said, and leaned into his hug with a sigh. "Be safe."

"You too," he said, and then they had to separate.

In the car on the way back, Zelo stared out the window at the passing lights and thought about that last part of their time together. It didn't scare her, she realized, blinking in surprise. It hadn't scared her at all. If nothing came of this relationship, it would hurt, but if it did? If this relationship developed deeper? She would jump in with both feet into the deep end.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It looked like a normal transport. And then the wind and the ice made it harder.

Yugyeom checked his schedule and sighed. The weather hadn't gotten any better. In fact, it seemed to have gotten worse, the wind picking up where the snow had left off. The snow plows worked hard to clear the streets, and in some cases, even had success. Not on his route, apparently. He knew how to drive the heavy truck they'd assigned him, and he knew how to deal with icy roads, even those out by the coast, worse than the streets in Seoul. Things had to move, and he had to move them. He grabbed his coat and pulled it on, as well as a hat, gloves, and a scarf. He went out to check over his truck, the checklist memorized by now, and then got in the cab for the second half.

He glanced at the passenger door when it opened almost as soon as he’d reached the end of the checklist, and another soldier got in. "Kim Yugyeom?"

"Yes, sir."

"Lee Seonhun."

Yugyeom nodded and started the truck to let it warm up. "Do you mind if we listen to music?"

"What is it?" 

"Hiphop. A group called Bang and Zelo, and some of their individual stuff from their underground days."

Seonhun shrugged. "I'll give it a try," he said.

"Thanks." Yugyeom connected his phone and the music started, low enough they could hear anything over the radio connected to the stereo in the cab. Within minutes, they started off, and Yugyeom maneuvered the heavy truck onto the main road. 

He had to focus, keeping track of the truck in front of him, worried about the ruts in the snow and ice covering the street. He didn't have any room to move, if something went wrong. 

"This is pretty good," Seonhun said, keeping his voice down, trying not to disturb Yugyeom. Which he appreciated. 

"I knew Zelo, the woman rapping, in high school. Not well, obviously. Anyway, I heard their stuff when they debuted, and I liked it. So I looked for more, and found Bang's stuff from the underground, and then some of hers, too."

"I can see why you'd look them up. They're good," Seonhun said.

"Yeah," Yugyeom said, and then frowned. Ahead, past the truck in front of him, he could see cars spinning out of control. "Radio back. It looks like we've got problems ahead."

Before Seonhun could reach for the radio, theirs crackled to life. "Icy ahead, and windy. Slow down now."

"Right," Yugyeom muttered, and started to do so, careful not to let the truck skid. 

The truck ahead of him shook, buffeted by the wind, and tipped precariously before righting itself, turning onto a less busy street. "Turn right," Seonhun said softly.

Yugyeom nodded, bracing himself. The strength of the wind caught him off guard and he gripped the wheel, wrestling with it as the truck seemed to get a mind of its own. 

Something nudged him from the back, one of the trucks behind that hadn't slowed down enough (or at all), sending him skidding past the turn. Ahead of him, the sliding cars he'd seen had all stopped, crunched together, people trying to get out. "Shit," he muttered, and tried to get the truck to turn, to get out of the ruts and somehow go around them. 

Seonhun grabbed the mic from the radio and began talking into it, fast as he could. Yugyeom left him to it, ignoring the words as unimportant. Right now, he had to figure out how to make this truck do what he wanted. "Hang on," he muttered, and wrenched the wheels sideways.

They weren't going to actually get out of the rut. It did, however, unbalance the truck enough that the wind got hold of it and it went over, more of the weight and the material at the back adding onto the friction to help slow it down. 

Yugyeom heard something crack, and then his vision blurred, and he wondered if he'd hit something. His head, he thought, and tried to touch it. He couldn't get his hand to move, no matter how he tried. "Did we stop?" he tried to ask, and then something - Seonhun? - landed on top of him and everything went completely dark.

Hyunwoo started at the sound of a phone ringing, looking up in surprise. He spotted Zelo's phone when it went off again, and after a moment's hesitation, picked it up. "Hello?" He knew people didn't call her unless it was an emergency, not during the weekends, and definitely not during a promotion.

The voice at the other end spoke crisply and quickly, and Hyunwoo could only nod and hum his acceptance, then they hung up. He hung up as well, stunned, and then he went looking for her. She needed to know this, now. He stepped out of the dressing room and stopped to think about where they might be. Without any idea, he figured on a systematic search, and started off down the hall. Hyunwoo stopped in the process of rounding a corner when he almost ran into Yoosuk, and his eyes widened. What was he doing here?

"What is wrong? Did something happen to Bang and Zelo?" Yoosuk demanded.

Hyunwoo bowed. "No, nothing like that. They're fine, as far as I know." He also knew he'd be contacted immediately if something had happened to either of them. "Zelo got some bad news."

Yoosuk's eyes narrowed and he scowled. "Bad news? What kind of bad news?"

Hyunwoo hesitated, but realized he had to tell him. "Her friend was in a car accident and is in the hospital," he said. "They said she could go to visit, if she wanted."

Yoosuk glared at him. "You can't tell her."

"What do you mean, I can't tell her?" Hyunwoo asked, the words shocked out of him. He stepped back, away from Yoosuk, who grabbed his upper arm to hold him in place. 

"She has things to do. She doesn't have time to go visit. The news of it will only distract her and she can't afford that."

Hyunwoo blinked. That... actually made sense. "I won't tell her immediately, then," he said.

Yoosuk's hand on his arm tightened. "Promise me you won't tell her at all."

Hyunwoo stared at him. "Not tell her? She'll know I left something out, and she'll ask me. The number is on her phone."

"Delete it."

"Delete it?" Hyunwoo repeated dully. 

"Remove all record of the call," Yoosuk said, and he remained there, his hand wrapped around Hyunwoo's arm, until Hyunwoo did as he'd asked. 

Hyunwoo wanted to jerk free as soon as he’d done it, wanted to go and tell Zelo all about her friend, but he couldn't, and this was unfair. Unjust. He bowed when Yoosuk let him go, and his supervisor didn't bow back as he walked away.

Frustrated and angry, Hyunwoo returned to the dressing room to put Zelo’s phone in her bag. Ahead of him, he heard Bang laugh, and sped up to see if he were alone. He was talking on the phone, and Bang hung up before he opened the door to go in. Hyunwoo followed, dropping the phone on Zelo's bag before turning to Bang. "Where's Zelo?" 

Bang smiled his gummy smile. "One of the girls in Twice dragged her off for some girl-time, whatever that means," he said. "She went so fast, I think she needed it." He sank down in one of the overstuffed chairs and relaxed.

Hyunwoo wished he could relax, and tugged at his collar to try to stop feeling like it choked him. He strode across the room, turned, and walked back, repeating the movement, eyes more on the walls than anywhere else. 

He did that four times before Bang laughed, low. "You're pacing. What's going on?"

"I can't say."

Bang sat up. Hyunwoo noticed it out of the corner of his eye, still refusing to look at him. "You can't say? Why not?"

Hyunwoo usually didn't mind them being that smart. This time, though.... "He made me promise." And then he stopped dead and turned slowly to look at Bang, finally seeing a light he hadn't been able to. Yoosuk had said nothing about telling Bang about Zelo's message. "Actually, he said I couldn't talk to Zelo. Nothing about talking to you."

Bang nearly came out of his chair. "Something about her?" he demanded.

Hyunwoo waved him to sit back and sat down across from him. "She's fine, but it has something to do with her," he said. "Did you hear about that pileup yesterday?"

Bang fixed him with a glare. "Which one?"

"The one with the military convoy."

Bang nodded. "Yeah, I remember that."

"Her friend was in it. He was hurt badly, although he's not in ICU." Or the nurse hadn't specified he was, so Hyunwoo assumed Zelo's friend wasn't. "The hospital called her, and I picked up because I was in here. I was on my way to find her when I met Yoosuk, and he insisted I delete the number."

Bang got to his feet and began pacing, following almost the exact same path as Yoosuk had. "That's not right," he muttered. 

"It's not," Hyunwoo agreed. "He wouldn't have let me go and might have taken her phone if I hadn't promised not to tell her. He didn't make me promise not to tell you, and someone needs to tell her. She needs to know."

"She does," Bang agreed.

"The problem is, he actually made sense. His reason for not telling her now, anyway. She is busy, and it would only distract her from what she needs to do." Hyunwoo rubbed his neck, surprised that he could even possibly consider anything Yoosuk had done in a favorable light. "She needs to find out when she can get out fast, and not run into Yoosuk." He pursed his lips in frustration. "It might be best to wait until the weekend shows are over, much as I hate to admit it."

Bang threw himself back into the chair and sighed. "Yeah," he agreed. "It'll have to be fast and semi-private." He frowned at Hyunwoo. "Does he trust you?"

"I doubt it," Hyunwoo said. "I've taken your side too many times."

"And we appreciate it," Bang said.

Hyunwoo gave him a wry smile. "I'll just stay clear of her," he said. "Not get a chance to be seen alone with her."

"I'll figure out the best time to tell her," Bang said, and smiled at Hyunwoo. "Thanks, by the way."

Hyunwoo nodded a bow, and tugged at his tie to try to get his collar to sit right. He hoped this wouldn't be the end of his career. He knew better than to say it out loud, though. He didn't want Bang caught between him and Zelo. Hyunwoo could take care of himself. Zelo needed Bang to watch out for her.

The music faded, and Zelo relaxed out of her ending pose, grinning wildly. That performance had been one of the best they’d ever done. A glance at Bang let her know he felt the same way, his grin as infectious. They bowed, and Zelo flipped her hair back when she stood, soaking from sweat from the lights and the dance. With a wave, they walk off the stage.

As soon as they hit the edge, Bang took her headset off. "Yugyeom is in the hospital," he told her in a low voice as they walked. He took her arm to keep her moving when she nearly stopped in shock. "Hyunwoo told me. We thought it best to wait until now, when you could actually go and see him. He's furious because his supervisor told him not to tell you at all."

Zelo stared at him, the rush from the performance fading into a feeling of loss and disappointment and fear. She kept going when he tugged on her arm. 

"Natasha is waiting outside to take you to the hospital," Bang continued. "Go change and get out of here. I'll get your bag." He let her go and gave her a shove.

Zelo lurched forward into a run, changing out of the stage outfit in record time once she reached the dressing room. She paused long enough to wash the worst of the makeup off her face, and grabbed her snapback and phone on the way out. She slipped through the crowd toward the back entrance, trying not to be seen, and got out the door without anyone saying anything to her. 

Natasha waited there, handing her a coat as she got into the car. She didn’t even put the car into gear until Zelo had buckled her seatbelt.

The trip to the hospital lasted an eternity. Zelo knew they couldn't go fast; she and Bang had left almost an hour early to make it to the show and were late anyway. She held onto her sleeve cuffs and didn't say anything, no matter how much she wanted to complain. Natasha didn’t need the distraction.

"I don't know much," Natasha said as they waited at a red light. "I know what hospital he's in, and I know generally what happened. The accident happened on Friday, the first day of the storm. Some of those accidents were really big. His... could have been worse. He kept it from being worse. Hyunwoo told Yongguk about it on Saturday. Probably the first chance they had to get any information out." She glanced at Zelo, then the light changed and she started forward again. "I hope he's okay."

"Yeah, me too," Zelo mumbled, and huddled into her coat. 

Neither of them said anything else during the rest of the interminable drive. 

Natasha stopped in front of the doors. "Text or call when you want to go home," she said, her hand warm on Zelo's knee. "One of us will come and get you."

"Thank you," Zelo mumbled, and went through the snow and into the hospital. 

The open reception area warmed her up as she walked toward the desk, a raised affair with the name of the hospital in large letters behind the desk. It reminded her of the reception area at TSE, although TSE didn't have the atrium that went up higher than she wanted to count. 

"Can I help you?" one of the women behind the desk asked when Zelo reached her.

"I'm here to see Kim Yugyeom," she said. 

The receptionist checked her computer and frowned. "How are you related?" she asked.

"I'm not," Zelo said.

"I'm afraid I can't let you up," the woman said kindly.

Zelo stared at her, then blinked to keep from crying and looked down, playing idly with her phone.

"I'm sorry," the woman said, and she sounded sincere. 

Phone, the phone. "Oh, wait," Zelo said, looking up again. "I'm on his contact list. They called me about the accident Saturday night. Does that mean I can go in and see him?"

The receptionist brightened at her words. "Give me your name and your ID," she said.

"Choi Eunhong," she said, and fumbled to open the case on her phone, handing over the ID she kept in there.

The receptionist looked at her, and then at her ID, and then at the computer. "He's on floor 10," she said, handing the ID back, and then giving her a sticker to put on. "If you take the elevator to the north, it'll open up closer to where he is." She pointed helpfully to her left.

"Thank you," Zelo said, bowed, and went in the direction she pointed.

The elevator took forever, both to arrive and then to get to the tenth floor. When it opened, she followed the arrows to the nearest desk, and found it as imposing as the front desk. She walked right up and waited for someone. The nurse who turned around looked flustered. 

"How can I help you?"

"I'm looking for Kim Yugyeom," she said, and handed over her ID when the nurse asked. 

The nurse told her his room number, and then stopped her when she started in that direction. "I'm sorry. The doctor is in there, and he needs privacy. You can wait in the private waiting room over there, and someone will tell you when you can go in."

More and more obstacles. Zelo wanted to scream. Instead, she nodded her thanks and went.

The waiting room was warm, welcoming, almost homey. A counter ran along most of the wall to her left, with a sink in the middle and ending with a fridge. Large windows looked out over the city, and Zelo paused in the doorway to take them in.

"Can we help you?"

She started and let the door fall closed, looking around to see who'd spoken to her. The couple were older than Natasha and her partner, good looking, with worry in their faces. That made sense. Hospital stays induced worry. "I'm here to see a friend," she said finally. "The nurse said they're doing tests that require privacy."

The woman let go of her partner's hand and stepped closer, and then she smiled. "I didn't recognize you. You're Eunhong."

Zelo stared at her. "Recognize me?" 

"I've seen you curled up next to Yugyeom a couple of times, when you came to visit him," Yugyeom's mother said. "It's your hair color. It's different from the last time. I suspect you were asleep, though, because he never got around to introducing you to us."

Zelo bowed. "Choi Eunhong," she said softly. "I'm very happy to meet you."

"Kim Jeonghui. This is my husband, Habin."

Zelo bowed to him, too. "I'm sorry I wasn't here earlier. I wasn't told about the accident until tonight. Someone else answered my phone when they called."

"Understandable. Life is busy," Habin said, without looking like he understood at all. 

"Please, sit down," Joenghui said, gesturing to the plush chairs set around a small circular table. Zelo did so, letting out a sigh. "He hasn't told us much about you," she went on, sitting across from Zelo. "Just that it took him a while to get back in touch with you."

"Ah, yeah," Zelo said, and rubbed the back of her neck. "I got busy after I left school, and lost contact with most of my friend circle. I was glad to see him," she assured them. "He's helped me keep my feet grounded lately."

"You seemed to do the same for him," Jeonghui said. "It was such a relief for him that you didn't fight his decision to serve. I've heard nightmares from friends about how girls acted around their sons when they decide to enlist."

"I can imagine. It wasn't easy for me," Zelo said, smiling shyly. "I just... couldn't offer him anything better, and thought it best to let him go. He seems to really like it, too."

The door opened, and Zelo turned in her chair as Yugyeom's parents stood up. A nurse smiled at them from the doorway. "You're welcome to go in now," she said. 

Zelo stood up and fell in behind Yugyeom's parents, reeling at the evidence that Yugyeom hadn't told them what she did for a living, or who she actually was. She didn't mind, in fact she appreciated it. She just didn't understand _how_ he hadn't told them.

She stopped dead just inside the hospital room at her first look at him. They'd elevated his leg, in a cast that went up to mid-thigh, at least. Bruises purpled his face, although the swelling from them had gone down, and she could see more wraps under the gown he wore. Splints on the fingers of his right hand spread his hand out wide, larger than hers. Something beeped and she turned her head to look at the monitor over his head, wavy lines in different colors moving across it. She didn't know what it meant, although she thought maybe anything not a straight line was okay. 

Jeonghui sat down in the chair closest to the bed, and Habin sat down in the recliner, somewhat further away. Zelo stayed where she was, slumped against the door jamb, and struggled to keep from crying in relief. He looked like he'd be okay, once the bruising cleared up and his bones knitted. His parents looked at ease, worried but not panicked, so maybe she didn't need to panic either.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yugyeom wakes up, and Zelo deals with more opposition than she's ever faced.

Yugyeom woke slowly, trying to figure out where he was. Something beeped softly next to him, and the bed didn't feel like his bunk. Pain came out of nowhere, not sharp, but steady aches and sharper pains that let him know he'd done something to his body, and something it didn't like. It didn't feel like a dance injury, though. The air he drew in aggravated his throat, and he coughed.

"Yugyeom?" someone said, and he tried to identify who it was. He tried to open his eyes, to look, and he couldn't get them to move. He tried to answer, to say something, and that made him cough as well.

"Here's some water," someone else said, and a straw tapped his lips. He opened his mouth to drink. "The nurse said you'd be thirsty. Take it slow."

The cool water helped, and when his father (because of course it was his father, and his mother had said his name) took the water away, he thought he'd try to say something. "What happened?" It came out a whisper. He cleared his throat, to try to make it louder, but as far as he could tell, nothing had changed.

"You were in an accident," his mother said. "You'll be okay. It's just going to take a while until you are."

"What about Lee Seonhun?" he asked, still whispering. "Is he okay?" The words elicited a cough, and his father pressed the straw to his lips again. He took a drink.

"Who is he?" his mother asked.

"The other soldier. He was with me in the truck."

"We believe so," his father said. "We were told he was fine."

Yugyeom sighed in relief, and then almost did it again when he didn't cough this time. He tried to rub his eyes, and only his left arm responded. He used that hand to awkwardly rub both of his eyes. It helped unglue his eyelids, and with some effort, he managed to get his eyes open. 

The room looked like a regular hospital room, if what they had on tv shows was true. A door at the foot of the bed hung ajar, revealing the bathroom. Next to it, over a desk and some cupboards, hung a small tv. The main door to the room was on his right, and his parents at his left. His mother caught his eyes, and smiled. She had lines on her face, the lines that said she had spent too much time worrying. Probably about him. "You look better awake," she said, her voice slightly rough. She brushed her hand over his head, and gave him a look he didn't know how to interpret. "I don't know about the haircut, though."

"That's out of my control," Yugyeom said. "Did they tell you what happened?"

"Yes," his father said. "You were trying to stop your truck from running into an already major pileup, and you tipped it over. You did manage to keep from running into them, by the way," he added when Yugyeom looked up at him urgently. "No one was hurt when you did that. Nothing happened to anyone in front of you. Seonhun made the mistake of undoing his seatbelt too soon, and fell on you."

"No one else was hurt? No one in that crash, I didn't hurt anyone?" Yugyeom repeated, desperate for some good news.

"You didn't hurt anyone but yourself," his mother said, patting his arm. "You kept it from happening."

Yugyeom sighed and barely kept from crying at the relief

"Your friend is here," his mother said, and that distracted him enough that the pressure to cry went away. "She passed out almost as soon as she sat down. She must have had a long weekend."

"I didn't realize she was that tall," his father said, while Yugyeom tried to get his head around who that might be. 

That clued him in. "Eunhong is here?" 

"She's out of the way, on the other side of you," his mother said.

He turned his head to see her with her head down on her crossed arms, her bright blond hair contrasting with the dull brown blanket over him. He could see her face, see how relaxed she was, and he had to smile. He knew exactly why she was exhausted enough to sleep here, and sitting like that. "How long has she been here?"

"She came in around nine last night, looking harried, and apologized for not getting here sooner. We didn't have the chance to tell her you'd been asleep the whole time," his mother said. 

"She did have a busy weekend," Yugyeom said fondly, and patted Eunhong's arm. "Hey. Wake up." He hurt, and he wanted to go back to sleep, but he really wanted to talk to her, too. "Eunhong, please wake up."

She stirred. "I just got to sleep," she mumbled, her words slurred with exhaustion, and turned her head away from him. 

He barely understood her, and when he did, he chuckled. And then gasped as pain shot through his ribs. "Can I have another drink?" he asked, and his father held the cup out for him. Yugyeom took it and sipped again, then handed it back. He glanced down at Eunhong, and nudged her again. She shifted her shoulders, as if she wanted to move away from him.

"I don't think you'll wake her up," his mother said gently. "She seems pretty determined to stay asleep."

"She is," Yugyeom said. "She has a pretty heavy schedule, and this is probably nice."

His mother lay a hand on his shoulder and smiled when he looked at her. "She's not in the doctor's way, so we don't need to wake her up. You look like you could sleep. Go ahead. There will be time to talk to her later."

Yugyeom sighed. "Yeah, okay," he said. "I didn't think I'd be this tired." He laid his hand on Eunhong's arm, glad she's there, and closed his eyes. He fell asleep almost immediately.

The next time he woke, Eunhong stood in the corner of his room while his parents spoke with the doctor. With his mother's help, he sat the bed up just a little, and relaxed while listening. Once the doctor left, they helped him order breakfast, and then he shooed them out to get their own. He watched them leave, and then turned when Eunhong sat down next to him again, leaning her elbows on the bed and watching him. "How are you, really?" she asked.

"It hurts," he said, and took her hand. "It probably will for a long time." He relaxed against the back of the bed, moving it to lay back a little to ease the strain on his leg. "Don't you have to go back to TSE today?"

"I probably should," she said, her eyes worried. "Will they help you with the pain?"

"Yes. Just probably not as much as I'd like them to."

That made her smile, but the smile fell way too fast. "I'm sorry I didn't get here earlier than last night," she said. "They didn't even tell me until last night, and they didn't tell me on purpose."

Yugyeom squeezed her hand. "I'm glad you're here. I wasn't awake before last night anyway," he added. He could tell the lack of communication bothered her. "Don't you want to go back?"

"No," Eunhong said, and sighed. "They'll tell me I can't come visit you again. I won't have any idea what's going on with you." She pouted, but he could see through the facade to her eyes, too bright and too sad, like she fought to keep from crying. "I wish they hadn't kept it from me. I guess I understand why, but still… I wish I had known."

Yugyeom squeezed her hand again. "It's okay," he said softly. "You came. It doesn't matter when."

Eunhong gave him a stricken look, and then put her head down again, although not fast enough that he didn't see the tears that had started to fall down her cheeks. He let go of her hand and she crossed her arms again, resting her head on them. Yugyeom stroked her hair, not surprised to find it stiff under his hand; she probably hadn't even brushed it since the performance the day before. He kept doing that, letting her cry it out, and eventually her breathing evened out, and she slept. 

He didn't know how long until he would get his own breakfast, and he closed his eyes to wait for his parents to return and his breakfast to arrive.

Yongguk called Eunhong on his way out to his car, hoping she'd made it home. He'd crashed so hard the night before when he'd gotten home that nothing would have woken him, and he hadn't seen even a message on his phone when he'd gotten up that morning. 

"Hello?" said a voice he didn't know.

"Um…"

"This is Yugyeom. I had to borrow her phone," Yugyeom said. He sounded exhausted and in pain. "Eunhong's here in my room, and she's asleep. I tried to wake her up, but she mumbled something at me and turned her head. She needs to go home, or go into work, doesn't she? So she doesn't get into trouble?"

"Yes," Yongguk said, grinning widely. It was just too cute. "I'll be there in half an hour. What's your room number?" Yugyeom let him know, and they hung up. 

Yongguk started his car and headed for the hospital. He didn't know what the fallout might be, because she'd missed the finale the night before, and he really didn't care. Well, yes, he might care, but he just couldn't be bothered right now. He worried more about why she didn't call him last night. He'd just have to ask her when he got to the hospital. He spent the rest of the drive thinking about some ideas he'd had recently, and how to turn them into something they could actually use.

He got as far as the nurse's station on the fifth floor, which seemed to take forever. "Can I help you?" a nurse asked as he walked past.

Yongguk came to a stop. "I'm picking up a friend of Kim Yugyeom's," he said, smiling at her. "I just wanted to go down and get her."

The nurse frowned. "Just a minute, let me call and see if they're expecting you."

He waited while she called, and then she smiled and waved him on. 

In the room, he found Yugyeom in the bed, asleep (then who had the nurse talked to?), with Eunhong's head on the bed next to him. She looked as exhausted as Yugyeom did. Two other people, probably Yugyeom's parents, sat next to the bed, holding hands. They both looked at him, and the man stood up. "Can I help you?" he asked.

Yongguk bowed. "My name is Bang Yongguk. I'm Eunhong's friend," he said. "I came to take her home."

"The nurse called about you," the man said. 

"Yes. Is Yugyeom okay?" he asked.

"He will be. It might take a while, but he'll be fine, the doctor said," the woman said, smiling and bowing her head briefly. "Thank you." She held out Eunhong's phone and her coat. 

Yongguk took them with a grateful smile. "Thank you for taking care of her." He walked around the bed to where she slept, and nudged her shoulder. "Eunhongie, it's time to go in."

She protested wordlessly, then sighed. "Two more minutes?"

"You don't have them, sorry," he said, and nudged her again. "You need to wake up enough to walk. I'll take you down to the car.

She sighed again. "Fine," she grumbled, and sat up when he pulled on her arm. One more tug got her to her feet, and he helped her into her coat. He carefully led her around the end of the bed to the door. He nodded to the couple, smiling at their incredulous looks, and led her out the door. They'd done this so often that he barely had to prompt her to get in the car, and she went limp while he fastened her seatbelt. 

Halfway to TSE, Eunhong started awake and made him jump, which made him swerve and nearly skid on the ice. "Wh-where are we?" she stammered, looking around wide eyed. "What happened?"

"I talked to Yugyeom when I called to find out what had happened last night, and he told me where you were," Yongguk explained. 

Eunhong made an aborted movement that he recognized as her not grabbing at his arm, and she grabbed at the door instead. "You need to take me back," she said firmly, with a tone he didn't recognize. 

He didn't know how to answer the tone, so he focused on her words. "Yugyeom needs to sleep without worrying about you," he retorted, keeping his voice as calm as he could. "You have things to do today, and you need to do them or you'll get in trouble."

Eunhong sagged. "I know," she muttered. "I won't be much use, you know."

"I do know," Yongguk said. "I'm sorry. I wish things were different for this. You can leave early, and I'll take you to see him tonight."

Eunhong sighed and straightened up again. "Did he look okay? When you saw him?"

"He was asleep. His parents were surprised by your ability to walk without waking up, too."

She groaned. "At least they don't hate me."

"No, they didn't seem to, considering they wanted to know what I was doing with you." Yongguk laughed. "Are you ready to go right in, or do you want to go home and change?"

Eunhong reached into her pocket, and then turned a horrified look on him. "I left my phone there. We have to go back."

"I've got it," Yongguk said, smirking. "It's in my coat pocket, nearest you."

She reached in and took it out, checking it for the time. "I want to go home, but it's probably a bad idea, because I'd just go to sleep. I guess… we'd better go in," she said. "You have my bag from yesterday, right?"

"It's in the back seat," Yongguk said. 

Eunhong sighed and relaxed. "Thanks," she said softly, after a few minutes of silence. "For helping me, for doing all of this for me."

"You're welcome," he said. "Any time."


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fallout from Zelo skipping out on the finale of the music show.

The text that summoned Hyunwoo to Yoosuk's office didn't prepare him for the fury rolling off the man when Yoosuk called him in after he knocked. Yoosuk stood behind his desk, hands pressed to the mat on it, as if only that kept him from reaching over to strangle Hyunwoo, or at least shake him until his brains rattled around in his head.

"Where is Zelo?" he demanded, his voice shrill.

Hyunwoo hid his surprise, not at the question but at how it was asked. He crossed his legs and looked at Yoosuk evenly. "As far as I know, she's at home. They aren't supposed to be in for 20 minutes or so. They had a long weekend, and I let them come in an hour later today."

Yoosuk bared his teeth at him in a grimace that he might have wanted to look like a smile. "Where was she last night? Bang was at the finale on his own." He ground his teeth, loud enough for Hyunwoo to hear it. "Did she go to the hospital?" His eyes narrowed, his ire focused on Hyunwoo now.

"I don't know," Hyunwoo said. "I wasn't there." He tried to keep the defiance out of his voice, but from the way Yoosuk glared at him, he hadn't done as well as he'd hoped.

"If she went to the hospital…" Yoosuk muttered, without continuing the thought. 

His glare remained on Hyunwoo, who carefully kept his innocent expression. He didn't want Yoosuk to realize he'd failed to intimidate him. "What?" he asked.

Yoosuk snapped back to attention, and carefully took his hands off the desk and sat down. "Did you tell her about the phone call?"

"Of course not. Even if you hadn’t forbidden it, I had no time or opportunity. I barely saw her all day, and when I did, she was busy." Hyunwo didn't tell him he'd done it that way on purpose. He wanted to be able to tell him the truth. He doubted Yoosuk would ask about Bang. Yoosuk had blinders on with this duo.

Yoosuk scowled. "If she went, I'll find out how she found out about it," he said. "I'll find out this morning. You'll have to…." He trailed off and planted his elbows on the desk, pressing his fingertips together. "No, I'll ask her where she was last night, and why she wasn't there for the finale." He looked at Hyunwoo, and arranged his face so he looked a little less furious. "What's their schedule today?" His tone was almost normal. 

Hyunwoo took out his phone and pulled up the schedule, although he knew what it was. "Wardrobe fitting, and then work with the choreographer to tighten up the mistakes from the weekend." 

Yoosuk nodded. "Good," he said. "You'll tell me if Zelo's not at any of those."

"If you want," Hyunwoo said.

"I do." He glanced at the computer and straightened. "I'd like you to go and talk to the wardrobe people, to see if they have an alternate color scheme for this weekend."

Startled, Hyunwoo agreed.

"Thank you." Yoosuk waved a dismissal and Hyunwoo let himself out, tugging on his shirt as he left. He hadn't even reached the door when he heard another comment. "Hasn't she figured out yet that he just wants her for her fame? This guy isn't going to get over her if she keeps going back."

Hyunwoo closed the door very quietly, not sure what basis Yoosuk has for that comment. He was glad she'd gone, and hoped she'd be in today. If not, he'd talk to Bang about what they could do about it. First stop, his office, to write down that comment, then wardrobe.

Halfway to the wardrobe, Hyunwoo caught sight of Bang and sped up to catch up to him. "Did Zelo come in with you?" he asked.

"Yes," Bang said, and his lips twisted. "She's doing okay, but she's exhausted. I'm going to take it easy as much as I can today."

Hyunwoo nodded, agreeing. "It's probably best. Did she get home at all last night? Wait, no, don't tell me that. She didn't sleep much, did she."

"No," Bang said. "Is something going on?"

"My superior is on the warpath about her missing the finale last night. Warn her, please? I have to run an errand for him."

"I will. Thank you."

Hyunwoo clapped him on the shoulder, and started back toward the wardrobe at a fast walk. He didn't look behind him to see where Bang went. He needed to have some sort of deniability. 

Zelo relaxed on the couch, drinking her water and trying to keep her eyes open. Bang had stepped out, and she didn't know where he’d gone or why. She hadn't asked. They'd had a grueling initial discussion with the choreographer, although he had said they'd done pretty well over the weekend. She couldn't imagine what it might have been like if they'd done not so well. Then Bang had sat her down and had left again.

The door slammed open, and she jerked upright, nearly dropping her bottle and somehow not spilling water all over herself. The sight of her manager's superior didn't improve her day.

"Where were you last night?" he demanded.

Zelo stared at him, and then frowned. "It doesn't matter. We didn't win," she said.

He stepped closer to her. "It does matter. Why weren't you there at the finale?"

Zelo stood up. "It doesn't matter. It was something private I needed to take care of."

Yoosuk glared at her, eyes narrowed. "Don't be blind. You're feeding an obsession," he snarled, then turned on his heel and stalked back out.

Zelo stared after him, stunned at the attack. She hadn't moved when Bang came in, seconds after Yoosuk had left. 

He stopped in front of her, concern on his face. "Zelo? What did he say? I saw him leave and he looked mad enough to spit nails."

Zelo took a deep breath and let it out. "He wanted to know where I was last night, and then said I was blind and was only feeding an obsession. I don't even understand what he's talking about."

Bang sighed and put an arm around her, guiding her back to the couch. "I'm sorry. Hyunwoo told me to tell you Yoosuk was on the warpath." He sat down next to her. "I wish I'd gotten here sooner, though."

Zelo sighed and leaned on him. "Can you take me to see Yugyeom tonight?" she asked.

"Yeah," Bang said. "But I'll pick you up at nine. You have a curfew now."

She rolled her eyes and put her head on his shoulder. "Okay. I guess." 

He laughed softly.

The next morning, Zelo felt better, and had even woken up in a better mood. It helped that she'd slept in her bed, although she would have liked to talk to Yugyeom. He'd slept through her visit the night before, and neither Yongguk nor Yugyeom's parents would allow her to stay until he woke up. 

She kept her phone close today because Yugyeom had sent a text earlier that he had gotten his phone back. He was slow tying, though, because he only had one hand. Zelo didn't care. She was talking to him. She dropped her phone on her bag and went back to the practice.

"What's different now?" Bang asked, watching her as she joined him in the middle of the room.

"Different?" Zelo asked, not sure what he meant.

"You weren't so… immediate before he went into the military," Bang pointed out. "I mean, you didn't go check your phone every time you got a notification. In fact, you had notifications turned off. I know you told him you wanted to date when he got out. So what changed?"

Zelo went over to the music player, fidgeting with it so she didn't have to look at Bang. "I think it was the possibility of actually, really losing him for good. To something other than Kim Jongun and North Korea, I mean. Something more… immediate. That threat has always been there, will probably always be there. This accident took me by surprise."

"Have you talked to him about the dating thing?"

"No, not about that. It's hard to talk about that sort of thing with his parents there." She turned to face him, still not meeting his eyes. "I don't think we'll have a lot of time together, just us, for a while."

"Probably not," Bang said. Zelo looked up at him, surprised at his amused tone. "You could just text him."

"No I can’t! That would be just rude," she protested, giving him a glare.

Bang laughed and walked over to her. "Come on, back to work. Have you completely destroyed the playlist?"

Zelo groaned and stepped out of the way. "No. I didn't touch it. I didn't change anything."

Bang checked it, then turned to look at her, serious now. "What would you have done if you'd lost him to a girl he'd wanted to date, instead of nearly losing his life?"

Zelo gasped, not sure which instance hit her harder. She stared at him, floundering for a moment.

He took her arm, helping her back to the couch. "I'm sorry. That was a rude way to ask that," he said, sitting next to her.

"It was," she mumbled, and leaned back, eyes closed, trying to get her heart to calm down. Then she considered his question, as well as she could. "I don't know," she said after a while. "I don't know if there would be anything I could do." She hugged him, resting her head on his shoulder. Bang held her and didn't pull away until she sat up. "We should get back to practice."

He watched her for a moment, then nodded and got up, offering her a hand to get up as well. She took it and let him pull her to her feet.

No matter how much she begged, Yongguk refused to take her to see Yugyeom that night. Eunhong pouted all the way home, and let herself into the house, still thinking about the conversation they'd had. What would she have done if he'd sent her an email telling her he found someone else he wanted to date? She didn't know, and the question kept her from even trying to go to sleep. Instead, she walked into the dark kitchen and got a glass of water. She stood at the sink, looking out at the darkness and drinking it, and rolled the glass between her hands when she finished.

Someone plucked the glass from her hands, and she turned in surprise to look at Natasha. "You're miles away," Natasha said, setting the glass down on the counter. "What's on your mind?"

Eunhong shrugged. "My life just got complicated. Or, no, I guess it always has been. I just got a wake-up call."

Natasha patted her shoulder. "Your boy?"

"Yeah. I don't know what to do about it. About him. About… anything. It's so confusing."

Natasha took her arm and pulled her to the table and sat down, gesturing for Eunhong to do the same. She did, folding her arms on the table and examining her hands. "What are your options?" Natasha asked.

Eunhong sighed. "I could break up with him. I mean, we don't really have that formal a relationship, because I didn't want to make things difficult for him. More difficult, maybe. It would still make my life simpler."

"It would," Natasha agreed. "Do you want to?"

"No. It would be unfair to him, and it would be unfair to me. And that would make it worse. Although, according to the choreographer today, that's not an easy thing to do." She grimaced, remembering his words.

"Did he come down on you today?"

"Yeah. I was distracted. Like, really distracted. He said…" Eunhong pursed her lips, trying to remember his exact words and blushing at the memory. "He said he didn't believe I could actually be worse than Bang at choreography, especially something I already knew."

Natashe reached across the table and patted her hands. "It's hard, when you're in love with someone and they get hurt that badly."

Eunhong jerked her head up to stare at her. "I'm in…."

Natasha smiled. "You have been, for a while. My biggest clue was when you supported his decision to go into the military. Loving someone means supporting what makes them happy, even if you don't agree with it."

Eunhong gulped in air, trying to get her head around that, trying to keep from bursting into tears. "What do I do now?" she wailed when she thought she wouldn't cry, hoping she would wake up Natasha’s partner.

Natasha stood up. "Right now, you go to bed, sleep well so you aren't accused of being worse than Yongguk in choreography. Then you get on with your days and work it out in between. The world won't stop for you in this, unfortunately."

Eunhong got up as well, hands gripped together tight enough to hurt. "I don't know. I don't…." She trailed off with a sigh.

"You're too tired to think," Natasha told her, and directed her gently toward her room. "It sounds like you need a good cry, too. Just don't make yourself sick."

Eunhong turned at her doorway and hugged her, nestling into her as Natasha hugged her back. When they parted, Eunhong did her evening routine, to give herself something to think about other than everything she’d had thrown at her, then crawled immediately into bed and closed her eyes. As soon as she relaxed, she fell asleep.

Eunhong woke up the next morning, feeling better and not like she'd collapse into tears at the smallest suggestion of criticism. Something major might do it, she still felt fragile, but something small she could probably handle. Pulling her things together, she headed into the kitchen, where Natasha and her partner sat at the table.

"Yongguk is running late, and asks that you meet him outside," Natasha said, smiling at Eunhong.

"Thanks," Eunhong said, and went to get her shoes and coat on. She stepped onto the porch and frowned. 

Two people stood at the gate. She knew no one had found her address, and besides, they looked way too old to be fans. They also looked vaguely familiar, although with the coats and hats against the cold, she wasn't sure.

Finally, she walked down the steps and toward the gate, ready to tell them she wasn't interested in whatever they wanted. Halfway there, she stopped dead as their faces became clear. Her… parents? Were here? "What are you doing here?"

"I like that. So rude. I can't believe you let a catch like that go, that was amazingly stupid," her mother said, sounding angry and almost… offended. 

Eunhong blinked. "A catch like--"

Her mother went right over her, as if she hadn't even heard. "You should grow your hair out, it looked so good when it was long. Wear something feminine. Even in the winter you can wear something that will show off your long legs without getting too cold. That will definitely help you get him back."

"Stop," Eunhong snapped, and her mother glared at her. "What are you… I mean, who are you talking about?"

"That young man, your partner," her father said, sounding like he wanted to tell her to get with the program. "You had a good thing going there."

Eunhong put her hand up to get him to stop talking. "You think I was dating Yongguk?"

"If you grow your hair out, and if you must dye it, maybe color it something less brassy. That makes you look like one of _those_ girls. But something softer, maybe a little darker, you'd be so gorgeous he wouldn't be able to resist you."

The attacks, so familiar, helped her get her head back together. "How did you find me?" she demanded. "You haven't even tried in the last few years - how many now, five? More? - since I ran away. I'm too old for you to actually do something to get me to come home, I'm not a minor anymore. Why did you show up, just to keep saying the things that made me run away in the first place?"

"A nice man came to our house and showed us what you were doing. It's such a shame that you had to go and do this." Her mother swept up and down with her hand, indicating all of Eunhong. "If you dress nicer, you might be able to get him back. He'd take care of you, he seems so nice."

Eunhong nearly growled. "I don't need him to take--"

Her phone rang, cutting off her words. That was Yugyeom's tone. She snatched out her phone and turned her back on her parents to concentrate. "Hello?" She ignored her mother’s irritated snort.

"Eunhong, this is Yugyeom's mother. I wanted to let you know that they took him into surgery this morning."

Eunhong stiffened. "What's happened? What's wrong?" she asked.

"He woke up in pain last night or early this morning. It persisted, so they took him in to get an x-ray, and found something they'd missed. They took him in to get it fixed. We're going to breakfast. They said he'd be fine, that it was a pretty basic procedure, and it would take him some time to wake up now that he’s out."

"Okay, thank you. Is he awake yet?"

"They said he'd be in recovery for a while, and they'd let us know when he was back in his room. Do you want me to call you?"

"Please," Eunhong said, and looked around to see if Yongguk had arrived yet. She saw his car in the driveway and stared at it. "Thank you. I appreciate this. Have a good breakfast." She hung up and started for the driveway.

Yongguk met her before she reached it, put an arm around her shoulders, and hugged her. "Are you okay?" he asked. 

She put her head on his shoulder, wincing at the muted squeal she heard from her mother. "I'm not sure. Can you take me to the hospital? Yugyeom's just out of an unscheduled surgery and his mom said they missed something and they had to fix it." Her words came out so fast that she could have rapped them. 

"Yes, I'll take you, and I'll come up with something to tell them at work," he said, and urged her toward the car.

They passed her parents without a word or recognition, and he opened the door for her. She got in, and he closed the door, finally getting her away (again) from her parents.

They'd gotten a fair distance from the house before he looked at her at a stoplight. "Who was at the gate?" 

Eunhong had just calmed down, talking herself out of an anxiety attack, and that ramped it back up again. "My parents," she said coldly. "I don't know what they were doing there. I mean, besides telling me I wasn't girly enough to get a man. And something about you."

Yongguk patted her knee. "We'll figure it out," he said, and then had to put both hands on the wheel to drive.

"I don't want to see them again."

"That hasn't changed."

"It's not likely to. I really don't know why they decided out of nowhere to just… come and tell me I'm not living right again. Right now."

Yongguk snorted. "Because it's fate. It's the last thing you need, which means right now is exactly when it will happen. It always happens like that, the worst thing comes up when you don't have the strength to fight it."

Eunhong pouted. "You make too much sense," she muttered, and he laughed.

It did make too much sense, and she thought about it, and about what she could do if - when - they showed up again. That occupied her thoughts until Yongguk pulled up in front of the hospital. "Call me when you're ready to go home," he said.

Eunhong smiled. "I will," she said, pulled her coat around her, and got out to run into the hospital through the wind.

The elevator took forever, because it always did, and she took the time to try to talk herself down again. She went right to the waiting room, but she didn't see anyone there, so she took the chance and went to find out if his parents had gone to his room. She barely noticed they weren't there, because he was, asleep in the bed. Her knees buckled and she grabbed onto the door jamb to keep from falling to the floor. He looked good, better than before, no longer quite so pale.

It took her some time to move, and she took about two steps when he opened his eyes, looking so amazingly adorable half asleep, and the smile he gave her took her breath away. "Hey," he said. "You're here."

"I am," Eunhong said, and kept walking, not sure exactly how she stayed on her feet. "How are you feeling?"

"A lot better," he said. "Whatever they did, it straightened things out nicely. My leg doesn't hurt as much."

"That's good," she said, and stopped next to the big chair in the room, holding onto it. "I'm really glad. You look better."

He patted the bed, and she sat next to him as he carefully sat it up, so he could look at her better. When he stopped, he looked at her in concern. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know," Eunhong said. "I mean, my parents showed up at Natasha's this morning. I don't know what to do with them. I haven't seen them in over five years, they never looked for me, and now they show up, and they're saying the exact same things they did that made me run away. I've… I'm a rapper, I'm well known, relatively, and it's still not enough for them." By the end, she'd started to cry, and she put her face in her hands to hide her tears.

Yugyeom hugged her, pulling her gently to him so she could cry on his shoulder, and she did, letting him comfort her. She put her arms gently around him, too, and sighed as the tears tapered off. She sat up to look around for a tissue, and found one across the room - and a handkerchief in his hand. She took it and wiped her eyes. "Thanks."

He smiled. "Tell me about your parents," he said. 

Eunhong sighed. "It's… They never liked me. I was never good enough, girly enough, dressed too sexy, grew too tall, either too much of one thing or not enough of another. Nothing I did was good enough, and I finally got tired of it and ran away." She looked at him with a scowl. "I have no idea how to deal with your mother. She's nice, she doesn't judge me, and how in the world did you not tell her what I do for a living?"

Yugyeom smiled. "It never really came up."

Eunhong stared at him, unable to comprehend that. "It never came up? How did it never come up? The reason I couldn't see you as much as you wanted me to was because I'm in a hip hop group and I have to attend all sorts of stupid things? How does that not come up when I'm late to seeing you _because_ of the weekend shows?"

Yugyeom took her hand and met her eyes. "It never came up because you are so much more than just Zelo, the member of Bang and Zelo, the hip hop group."

Eunhong ducked her head to hide how much she wanted to cry about that, too. How could he just say things like that?


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zelo has the worst day of her career. And that's saying a lot.

The sun in her eyes woke Eunhong, and she blinked sleepily at her clock - and shot straight upright when she saw the time. Had her alarm not gone off? She hadn't gone to bed that late last night. She scrambled out of bed, threw on some clothes, and rushed through her morning routine. Of all days, of course it would happen when everyone else had left early, too, she thought as she filled her water bottle from the fridge. She glanced to check on her breakfast, and the bottle slipped from her hands and splashed down her front before hitting the floor. 

"You can't be serious," Eunhong muttered, and went to grab a towel to clean it up, then went to change into something less wet. At least it had happened in the house, not at work, right? She sighed and went to fill the bottle again. A check at the clock over the stove had her scrambling to get her shoes ono and she ran for the bus so she'd catch the next one instead of having to wait for half an hour to catch the next one. She barely made it, tripping over her untied shoelaces and nearly face planting into the side of it before stumbling up the steps.

She groaned when she realized she'd caught the slowest bus in the city, she'd swear, and she got into her bag for her breakfast. Which, she remembered with another groan, she'd left on the counter next to the towel she'd used to clean up the spilled water. With a sigh, she uncapped her water bottle and took a drink to try to quiet her growling stomach.

When she pulled out her phone to call in, she almost screamed. How had she missed that it hadn't charged? She couldn't turn it on, couldn't call and tell them why she was so late, and further examination showed she hadn't grabbed her charger, either. She dropped her phone into her bag and took another drink of water.

By the time the bus got to the stop she needed, she'd finished her water and found that had caused a completely different problem. Her stomach no longer growled. Unfortunately, she now had to pee like nobody's business, and she ran into TSE with the sort of run most people made fun of. She made it to the bathroom on the ground floor. Barely.

With a sigh of relief, she washed her hands, stopped by a fountain to refill her bottle, and went for their practice room. She found Bang sitting on the couch, phone in hand, probably trying to call her. "Please tell me you have your charger, I left mine home, and my phone is dead," she said, collapsing on the couch next to him. "It has been one of those mornings."

Bang pulled out his charger and plugged it in, holding his hand out for her phone. She handed it over with a grateful smile and he plugged it in. "Are you okay?"

"My morning has been… impossible. I have no idea if I'm okay or not." 

Bang smiled wryly and got to his feet. "Ready to work?"

"I think so," Zelo said. It took her three tries to get up, and she rolled her eyes in exasperation. 

The practice went so badly she had to check to make sure she hadn't added inches to her height. Her body moved like it had when she'd grown and had to figure out how to make it do what she wanted it to, only it wasn't the same anymore. Her arms and legs appeared to not get her messages, going in any direction except the one she wanted. 

Bang stopped the song halfway through, but didn't say anything about her performance. "Let's try something more familiar," he suggested instead.

The earlier choreography didn't go any better. They worked for an hour, going at half speed, then even slower, which made it almost workable. "You know, this is what it's like to be me," he told her at the end of the hour, after he'd called a halt. "You stop and take a break. Check to see if your boy has sent you a text or something. Drink water."

Zelo gave him a look, and he smiled. "Hey, it can't hurt to try. Take a break, get your day back in shape. It might not work, but it might, so you might as well try." He shooed her toward the couch and her phone, and then left the room.

Hyunwoo had to work to keep his hatred of these meetings off his face when he sat down in front of Yoosuk. It had gotten worse since Zelo’s friend had wound up in the hospital, his obsession with the time Zelo spent outside of the practice room or outside of his control. He sat still in front of the desk, his hands on his knees, and waited for Yoosuk to say something. He could protest in this way, as little as it seemed to work.

It took Yoosuk longer than usual to look away from his screen, and when he did, he had a look of concern on his face. Hyunwoo doubted the sincerity of that look immediately. "Zelo is starting to worry me," he said.

Of course. He wasn't worried about Bang, only Zelo. He was more worried about his standing in the company. Although Zelo hadn't done anything to jeopardize that.

Yoosuk steepled his fingers. "Her attendance lately has been sporadic, and she rarely has an excuse for it."

"Promotions are over, and they did well," Hyunwoo pointed out, fighting to keep from showing his frustration with Yoosuk’s harping on Zelo’s… everything. "They've had a lighter load to recover before the next promotions start."

Yoosuk shook his head before he'd even finished his sentence. "We can't afford to have them out of the spotlight. The longer they’re gone, the more fans will go find someone else. It's been studied, and it's proved."

Fewer fans means less money, Hyunwoo thought to himself. "Running them into the ground isn't--"

"I'm not talking about running them into the ground," Yoosuk interrupted, scorn in his voice and expression. "She needs to buckle down and work. You need to talk to her."

Hyunwoo tugged at his sleeve to hide his discomfort with the direction the conversation had taken. Zelo already worked hard. "I have talked to her," he said. "She hasn't missed that much time, and what she has missed, I let her have because I didn't want her to burn out."

Yoosuk shook his head sharply. "You haven't talked to her strongly enough," he snapped. "You need to get her to see that she needs to be here to work. Make her see it."

"I can't make it more obvious," Hyunwoo said, tugging at his other sleeve to keep from exploding. "She's doing the best she can."

"It's not good enough, and you need to make sure she knows that. I expect to see an improvement in her attendance within the next two weeks." Yoosuk looked back at his monitor and began to type.

The obvious dismissal didn't go over his head, and Hyunwoo stood up, bowed barely correctly, and walked out.

Yoosuk refused to see how much Zelo worked, only seeing the time she needed to get out. Hyunwoo tugged at his tie, setting his collar askew. He couldn't do too much right now, she was distracted and she had a right to be. He could see no reason not to work with her on this situation.

Not only that, but he didn't understand why Yoosuk focused so much on her. She wasn't a soloist, she was part of a duo. So why wouldn't he focus on Bang as well? It didn't make sense, unless Yoosuk had some sort of unhealthy obsession with Zelo herself. He hoped not, because nothing good could come of that. He didn't have any idea how bad it would get if he did, and Hyunwoo didn't really want to know.

Tugging at his collar to try to get it to sit right, he started for the rehearsal room, his frustration building.

Zelo leaned against the mirror and slid down it to the floor, smiling slightly. Yugyeom had sent her a message earlier, and since her return message (and apology) went unanswered, he'd probably gone back to sleep. She'd tried a couple of steps without music and without success, and decided to follow Bang's other advice. She closed her eyes and relaxed, trying to get over the mess she'd made of her day so far. At least her phone had charged now, so she didn't have to worry about that. She just needed to get some distance from the whole thing, get some perspective. Surely Yugyeom's best days were worse than this, at least after the accident. She hoped he answered her soon, because he could probably get her to smile, and she could use that.

The door opened. Zelo didn't move, waiting for Bang to tell her to get up and get moving again, which meant she'd have to wait for their next break to find out if Yugyeom had woken up yet.

"What's going on?" Hyunwoo demanded.

Zelo opened her eyes in surprise to look up at him. His expression looked no more friendly than his voice had, not to mention that his shirt looked like he'd spent the last half an hour tugging on it. "What's going on?" she repeated, feeling slow and sounding it, too. 

"You have been slacking off," Hyunwoo told her, his voice still flat and unfriendly. 

Zelo got to her feet, stunned by this attack and not sure what he meant. She kept her hand on the mirror to keep her balance. "It's been a bad day today. I'm trying to…."

He shook his head and she stopped talking, even more confused. "Your work the last two weeks has been unacceptable. You need to be here on time, and stay longer. I know you have a friend who was in an accident. You're not the only one with a distraction, and you're the only one everyone knows is utterly distracted.

"I'm… I'm trying, it's… I'm doing… I'm…." She couldn't get her words to come out, everything pressing on her.

"The higher ups are getting antsy about your work and your absences, not to mention your lack of commitment. Everyone has seen that you've backed off, that you aren't giving your best to the company.

"This is not the best time to talk about that," Bang said, and his hand fell on Hyunwoo's shoulder.

Zelo started. She hadn't even seen him come in, so focused on Hyunwoo and his attack on her.

Hyunwoo turned on Bang. "What do you mean by that?" he demanded.

The relief that he no longer glared at her came as a blow, and she couldn't take anymore. She dodged for her bag, grabbed her wallet, and fled. She took the stairs and went out the back to find a taxi before anyone noticed she'd started to cry.

The door slammed behind Zelo. Bang moved before Hyunwoo could go after her, stepping in front of him to block his way. "She's having a bad day," he said, shifting when Hyunwoo tried to go around him. "It's just one of those days where everything goes wrong. She's done really well for the last couple of weeks, considering."

Hyunwoo scowled at him, tugging on his shirt. "You want me to back off because she's a girl," he snapped.

"No. She's better than most of the guys I know. She's in the middle of a stressful situation."

"So am I," Hyunwoo said, frustration clear in his voice now. "He won't understand, and he won't back off." He stepped back and took a deep breath, tugging his tie into place (and making his shirt worse). "Take the rest of the day off. Get her balanced again, or whatever needs to happen. Get this day over with. Come in tomorrow, expecting to work like you're in the middle of promotions. And do that for the next two weeks."

Bang didn't know what to think. Hyunwoo looked… frustrated, and vulnerable, and like he'd been pushed as hard as they had. What kind of person put that much pressure on someone? "I'll see what I can do," he said finally, and then tried something else, something to help Hyunwoo relax some. "Thank you. For understanding. And for all the things you do for us."

Hyunwoo smiled wryly. "Your welcome." He patted Bang on the shoulder and left. Bang heard him mutter "what do I tell him now?" as he left, then the door closed. Hopefully he didn't want an answer.

Bang grabbed his phone off the couch and dialed Zelo’s number. He nearly jumped when one of the raps he’d done before joining TSE started to play in the room, and he spotted Zelo’s phone on top of the bag she hadn’t taken. Interesting. He hung up and dialed the number Zelo had given him for Yugyeom. 

"Hello?" He sounded barely awake.

"Hey, this is Yongguk. Listen, she's probably not there yet, and I don't know if she's headed that way. Will you call me if Eunhong shows up there? Or have her call me?"

“Is everything okay?"

"I'm not sure. Eunhong is having a bad day, and I think she might be heading your way, that's all."

"I'll definitely call you - or have her call you - if she shows up."

"Thanks," Bang said. "I'll let you know if I find her first."

"Thank you," Yugyeom said, and they hung up.

Bang gathered up Zelo's bag and his own stuff and headed for his car. He'd try Natash's first, and if she wasn’t there, he'd… figure out where to go from there.

The code on the gate and the front door hadn't changed from the last time he'd visited, so he got in without a problem. As he took his shoes off, he saw Eunhong's sitting neatly by the door, and sighed with relief. Before going in any further, he called Yugyeom to let him know she was home, then dropped her bag and his near the door and went to her room. He knocked and tried to open the door, only to find it locked. He heard nothing and knocked again. 

"I'm asleep," Eunhong called through the door, barely loud enough to hear.

With a smile, Yongguk leaned against the door and slid down it. "Hyunwoo let us have the rest of the day off, so you can get yourself in order. I get it off because he likes me."

Eunhong's laugh came through the door. "He'd like it if you hugged him, you know."

Yongguk rolled his eyes. "We have to work harder, the next couple of weeks. Hyunwoo expects us to work like we are promoting." 

Eunhong sighed, close enough for him to hear it through the door. That's the only warning he got before she opened the door. He managed not to fall in, looking up at her with a grin. She smiled back at him. "Will you take me to see Yugyeom?" she asked.

"Of course, if you'll help me off the floor."

She immediately put her hands under his shoulders and helped him stand. "Thank you," she said softly, and he hugged her.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zelo's parents show up again. And make life... different.

Hyunwoo's dislike of his meetings with Yoosuk hadn't changed. He could admit, though, that it felt better here in the wardrobe, rather than Yoosuk's office and looking at him over his ostentatious desk. It was better here, because he could look at the outfits, old stage costumes the duo had worn, and other options for them. He spotted a few he thought they'd really enjoy wearing, and he made a mental note to mention it to the lady in charge of their wardrobe.

Yoosuk cleared his throat, and Hyunwoo turned to look at him. "What did you want to meet me here for?" he asked.

"I had some thoughts about the next promotion, and what they'll wear," Yoosuk said.

Hyunwoo shoved his hands in his pockets to keep from tugging on his tie. He doubted the man had the same ideas he did. "What did you have in mind?"

Yoosuk held up an outfit, and Hyunwoo reeled back in horror. His superior held a miniskirt, one that would flare with every movement and definitely show more leg than Zelo would want to, and a matching shirt that would show more of her stomach than she'd ever wanted to show. The color, a solid pink, didn't help matters. 

Hyunwoo bit back the reflexive "Bang would look horrible in that" and tried to force his voice into something more respectful. Yoosuk wouldn’t appreciate the joke. "She won't wear that."

Yoosuk glared at him. "Leave it out. She'll get used to the idea." He set it down on the table near them and smiled at it. Hyunwoo shuddered as Yoosuk reiterated himself. "She'll accept it if she gets used to it."

"It's a bad idea," Hyunwoo said, still struggling to keep his tone even. Did this idiot even know her? How many times had she spoken out about how the women idols were objectified in general, and specifically in Kpop? The accusations from fans would do more damage than anything else Yoosuk could have come up with.

"They're losing fans," Yoosuk snarled, looking up at him. "An outfit like this has worked time and again on other groups, and it will work with this one."

"She will not wear it," Hyunwoo said firmly. Fans were tolerant of changing styles, but not for this. "If you think they're losing fans now, wait until they--"

"You need to convince her," Yoosuk interrupted, eyes narrowed.

"This won't work. You'll need to find a different way to bring fans in," Hyunwoo repeated.

He knew it hadn't worked when Yoosuk waved his comment away and strode out of the wardrobe. He looked down at the outfit and resisted the urge to toss it in the trash before Zelo had the chance to see it.

Besides, what would Bang wear next to that? And why hadn't Yoosuk picked out an outfit for him? He definitely needed to record this conversation in his log.

Zelo's phone rang, announcing to anyone who knew - which meant her and Bang - that Yugyeom called. She snatched it up and answered it, stopping in the middle of the hall. "Hey," she said.

"Ah… I'm sorry. I forgot. Why'd you pick up?"

"We're halfway to wardrobe to check on costumes for the next promotion," she said cheerfully. "What's going on?"

"Good timing," Yugyeom said. "I wish I could say it was due to something other than good luck."

Eunhong laughed.

"I called because they're releasing me today. Next time you can visit, come to my home. It won't take as long to get there."

Zelo slumped in disappointment, pouting a little. She'd wanted to be there for that, no matter how much she knew it was impossible. Still… she didn't let him know how disappointed she was, smiling for him before she spoke again. "Are you glad to go?"

"Unbelievably," he said, with enough relief in his voice that she could understand it. "I want to go home." The emphasis on the last word she understood all too well. "I know you don't have much time. I just wanted you to know."

"Thanks for telling me. I'll talk to you later." She hung up after he did, and sighed.

"What's up?" Bang asked.

"He's going home," she said, and he gave her a quick hug that turned into a push to get her moving again.

"I hope he'll improve faster at home," Bang told her as he opened the door to the wardrobe department. 

"Me, too," Zelo agreed, tucking her phone into her pocket as she walked past him.

She caught sight of the horrible pink thing on the table in the middle of the room, and stopped so fast Bang almost ran into her. "What is that."

Hyunwoo turned around, his tie askew, his collar messed up. "Call it a warning," he said in a voice that conveyed his frustration and exhaustion all at once. 

"A warning for what?" Zelo asked, now worried about it.

"The higher ups want -my supervisor wants- you to get used to the idea of wearing that skirt for a comeback."

Zelo stared at him. "They want me… I am never going to… I can't wear that!" she stammered. "I'm not… I won't wear that. Ever. No matter how much he wants me to 'get used to it' I will never wear that." Especially not in that color.

Hyunwoo sighed. "I told him that," he said. "He insisted. I want you to know that's what he has in mind. That's the warning." He tried to get his tie straight as he walked out.

Zelo looked at Bang. "I can't wear that," she said.

The wardrobe lady stepped out of the racks of clothes and grimaced. "I'll get rid of this, shall I?" she asked, taking the clothes with a thumb and forefinger, as if just touching them offended her. Zelo didn't know if she could have touched them that much. The woman returned a few minutes later with her ideas of what to wear for the next promotions. "I'll take care of that… travesty of a costume. You shouldn't be in that."

"Thank you," Zelo said with real gratitude. She looked at the outfits the woman had picked out, and her mood lightened immediately. "Oh, this looks amazing!"

"It does," Bang agreed, flashing his gummy smile at the wardrobe lady. She smiled and blushed.

Eunhong stood just inside the door of her home, watching out the window for the cab she'd called, and saw it pull up. She called a goodbye to Natasha and went out, making sure to close the door behind her. She pulled her coat close around her, chilled in the short time it took to get to the gate. By then, though, she realized the cab wasn't the one she'd called, as her parents got out and the cab took off immediately. "What do you want?" she asked as they approached the gate. She tried to be pleasant, at least, but she was already late and Hyunwoo would be upset. 

"It's time for you to come back to us," her father announced.

Eunhong blinked, trying to process that. "That won't happen. I don't have to. I have enough money to support myself." The look in their eyes made her step back, even though she wasn't close enough for them to grab her and they couldn’t get through the gate. "You think I'm going to give you the money I've earned?" she demanded. "That won't happen either."

"Why don't you use that money to pretty yourself up, get that boy back so he can take care of you?" her mother asked, her frustration clear.

"You still think I was dating Yongguk?" Eunhong asked.

Her parents exchanged a look, and then looked back at her. "Isn't this his house?" her father asked.

"No," Natasha said from the porch, and she walked down the steps to join Eunhong, handing her a knit beanie. "This is my house. What are you doing here?"

Eunhong took the dark blue beanie and pulled it over her hair and ears, sighing at the warmth. "Thanks," she said.

"Eunhong needs to come home. She needs her family around her at this time," Eunhong's father said.

"I have my family," Eunhong said, confused. "I live with my family. And what is… what do you mean, at this time?"

"She's been our family for the last five years," Natasha said.

Eunhong's mother straightened with a scowl. "She needs a mother. You haven't done a very good job, to allow her to let herself go like that."

“Let myself go?” Eunhong protested.

Another cab pulled up during that statement, and two men got out, one of them lugging half-familiar equipment. "Is she ready?" the man without the equipment asked.

"She will be," her father said, glaring at Eunhong.

The second man started to pull out a camera, checking for light and more, things photographers did that Eunhong didn't understand. 

"Ready for what?" Eunhong asked, tempted to take another step back and even more tempted to run back into the house.

"I don't like this," Natasha said in a low voice. "I'm going to call the police." Eunhong nodded her agreement.

"You're going to have an interview with your parents," her father said, looking proud.

Eunhong stiffened. "No, I'm not," she said flatly. This was familiar ground, and she could feel herself steady, no longer thrown. "I'm not allowed to give any interview that doesn't go through the company. They're very firm on that, so much that it's in the contract, with pretty serious repercussions if broken."

The man who'd asked if she was ready turned a greasy smile on her, and Eunhong almost stepped back again. "I spoke to them earlier this morning. They gave their okay."

"No. I will not do this," Eunhong repeated. "I don't give interviews without my manager or Bang present. I'm not allowed to." She might not agree with parts of her contract, but she was glad now this was in it. She didn't think she'd need it, and it surprised her that she did.

Her mother pointed at Natasha. "What about her?"

Eunhong refrained from rolling her eyes. Barely. "She's neither Bang nor my manager. No one told me anything about an interview today, and no one would have agreed to have one in front of her home. She’d never agree if they asked. I'm going to call and check on this."

"You don't trust him? You don't trust us?" her father demanded.

"No, I don't," Eunhong said, and got her phone out to hit the speed dial for Hyunwoo. 

A third cab pulled up, probably the one she'd called for. Behind it came a police car.

"Go inside," Natasha said, her hand resting on Eunhong's shoulder. "I'll take care of this mess."

Eunhong nodded. "Thanks," she said, and went inside, ignoring her parents' calling her name. 

Hyunwoo picked up the phone as she took her shoes off. "Zelo?"

"Hey," Eunhong said, caught between fury, embarrassment, and frustration. "I'm sorry I'm late, and it's going to be even later, at this point. My parents showed up at my house this morning with a reporter and a cameraman. The reporter said he had permission to interview me with my parents. I think the camera guy got a shot of the house, and you know fans will show up within five minutes of the picture going public."

Hyunwoo didn't say anything. Eunhong figured he swore in his head, or covered the microphone to keep her from hearing it. "What's your situation currently? Are you safe?"

"I'm inside. Natasha is handling my parents and the reporter. She called the police on them, and they're here as well." She took a deep breath. "Is that true, that he could have called and gotten permission to interview me from TSE without telling me or anything like that?"

"No," Hyunwoo said immediately. "That sort of request wouldn't have even gotten past the receptionists." He sighed. "I'll get started on finding you a place to live, especially if you really think he got a shot of the house."

"I'm almost sure," Eunhong said.

"Is there any place you can stay until we know for sure, and get things figured out?"

Eunhong froze at the idea that crossed her mind. Could she…. "I might," she said, suddenly breathless. "I'll check and let you know as soon as I do."

"I'll get you a hotel room if that doesn't pan out," Hyunwoo said. "Don't pack too much, just enough for the next four or five days."

"Thank you. Will you tell Bang for me?"

"Yes. Call back soon, and let me know if there's anything else I can help you with."

"I will. Thank you, Hyunwoo. I really appreciate this."

She hung up and immediately called Yugyeom as she walked to her room. "Hey, are you busy?"

"No. What's up?"

"I… have a sort of an emergency," she said, and explained what had happened that morning. "Is there any way I can stay at your place for a few days? Until we know for sure if something has to change. It won't be more than four days, I don't think."

"I'll ask," Yugyeom said, sounding as excited as she felt. "Let me call you back."

"Okay." They hung up, and she stared at her bed, trying to decide what she wanted to take. Then she got out her suitcase and started to pack.

Hyunwoo wouldn't take the problem to Yoosuk until he'd gotten as much of it solved as he could, so he waited for Zelo's return call. He did tell Bang about the situation, and Bang had looked as ready to kill someone as Zelo had sounded, behind her more obvious fear. His phone rang and he checked it before answering. "Hello."

"I have a place to stay," Zelo said. "Do you want the address?"

"Text it to me, I don't have anything to write it on," Hyunwoo said, walking toward Yoosuk's door. "I have an idea for the long term, if we need it. I have to run it past my superior to see who we might have to displace."

"Oh, there's no rush," she said, and then laughed, more to herself than to him. "I don't mind staying there. I'm not sure how they'll feel about my weird hours, though."

"I understand," Hyunwoo told her. "I'll let you know as soon as we know for sure you shouldn't go back home."

Zelo sighed. "Thanks," she said. "I'll be in soon, I hope. I just need to get a cab again."

"I’ll send a car for you," he said, and hung up. He made that call, then put his phone in his pocket and rapped sharply on Yoosuk's door.

Yoosuk called him in, and looked surprised when Hyunwoo walked in. "Is something wrong?"

"Possibly," Hyunwoo said. He began to explain the problem Zelo had had that morning, noting when Yoosuk straightened up and looked interested. He gestured for Hyunwoo to sit down, so he did as he finished what they knew. "She's not sure she can stay where she is right now. She thinks the photographer got a picture of the house, and if so, she doesn't want to be there when the fans show up once the picture is published. She's got a temporary place, until we know more."

Yoosuk frowned, and Hyunwoo wondered what part he frowned about. "Is there any chance to get the man's name?"

"Zelo said Bang's sister called the police, so probably," Hyunwoo said.

"Good work," Yoosuk said. "What do you have in mind, if she does have to move out of there?"

Hyunwoo leaned forward. "I want to check with the housing department, and see how many trainees are in the dorm on the seventh floor. If there's room, I'd like her there. It's a smaller apartment, so she won’t disrupt as many of the trainees, and their schedules should be fairly compatible, at least on the weekdays."

Yoosuk nodded absently, bracing his elbows on the desk and making a steeple out of his fingers. He looked over Hyunwoo's shoulder, not meeting his eyes. "That's a good idea. If you need authorization to get someone to move, you have it. If you need more than me, I'll work on it for you. I'll make sure you have whatever you need to keep her safe."

His tone implied disappointment rather than anything else, although Hyunwoo didn't know he might be disappointed about. "I'll check with housing, and with Bang's sister, and keep everything open in case the picture is printed. I'll let you know as soon as we have any news about it," Hyunwoo said.

Yoosuk met his eyes this time. "You did well, Hyunwoo. I'm impressed."

Startled, Hyunwoo bowed. "Thank you. I'll get started on finding out everything we need to know," he said, and got up. 

"Keep me updated," Yoosuk said.

Hyunwoo let himself out, eyes narrowed as he walked toward housing. Yoosuk hadn't sounded particularly impressed. He hadn't sounded happy at all.

Well, he knew he'd done well, and he didn't really care what Yoosuk thought, as long as he remained the manager for Bang and Zelo. If only because he liked them, and wanted to run interference for whatever Yoosuk threw at them.

Zelo found it weird to be in a room that wasn't hers and wasn't a hotel room. It had a queen bed, like a hotel room, and yet, it felt warmer, more personal than a hotel room. It helped that it didn't remind her of her room at home, because it also had no real personal touches. She wondered if Yugyeom had a sibling he hadn't told her about.

Enough of that. She changed into her pajamas, set up a charging station and plugged her phone in, and washed her face and brushed her teeth. She sat on the bed, surprisingly not ready to go to sleep yet. After a minute, she grabbed a baggy sweatshirt and pulled it over her pjs, and left her room, turning the light off. She paused long enough to let her eyes adjust, and then tried to remember where Yugyeom's mother had said his room was.

The door she thought she remembered was his was ajar, and she peeked in to make sure before doing anything else. She didn't want to wake anyone, and she didn't want to scare anyone either, and she sighed softly when she caught sight of him. His room looked like him, actually, the bed covered in a light gray comforter and something darker for his sheets. She could see posters of rappers on the wall, Crucial Star and Epic High, and one of Bang and Zelo. She let out a soft laugh.

Yugyeom shifted. Eunhong looked at him and went bright red when she noticed his eyes open.

"I'm sorry. I was just… I'm…" She stammered, unable to think.

"Curious?" he asked.

"Lonely," she answered, almost before he finished his word. He was right, though, she was curious, initially wanting to deny it, and even still doing it in her head. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You sounded exhausted when we spoke earlier."

"I was," Yugyeom said, and grimaced. "I am." He opened his blankets, a clear invitation for her to join him.

Eunhong didn't hesitate, slipping into the bed next to him, moving slowly and carefully to make sure she didn't hurt him. He lay the blankets back over her, and she relaxed as he did, suddenly exhausted like she hadn't been in the other room. "This is nice," she whispered. "Thank you."

"It is nice," he agreed. "Good night."

"Good night," she whispered, her words slow and heavy like her eyelids, and she slept almost as soon as she got the words out.

When she woke up the next morning, she lay cuddled against him, his arm around her still. The room had lightened enough for her to see more details on the posters in his room, and to see more of them. She didn't move, though, not willing to wake him up if he were still asleep. Besides, she'd rather look at him, his face relaxed in sleep and so handsome. She pressed a kiss to his cheek and then closed her eyes, relaxing at the time to sleep a little more.

Yugyeom twitched, and she stayed still, hoping he'd go back to sleep. He moved more, stretching some and apparently trying not to wake her. "This is nice," he whispered, echoing her words from the night before. She opened her eyes and smiled, finding his face as handsome awake.

"It is," she agreed, smiling when he did, and kissed him again, putting off the inevitable work day as long as she could.

Yugyeom sat slumped on his mother's couch, waiting for Eunhong to come home. It hurt, the way he sat. It would hurt anyway, so he figured he'd sit the least painful way. Physical therapy that day had kicked his butt. He didn't want to sleep before she came home, one reason he sat out here; he'd be sure to see her when she came home. He had no guarantees she'd come back into his bedroom tonight.

The door opened, and he straightened as much as he could, waiting. His parents were both home, so it could only be Eunhong. She came in a few minutes later, looking as exhausted as he felt. He smiled, and she smiled back, sitting carefully next to him. He appreciated that gentleness, evidence that she cared about him.

"You look tired," she said, resting a hand on his knee.

He laughed shortly, because laughing still hurt. "I was going to say the same to you. How was your day?"

"Long. We worked out choreography for the next promotions, and the one after it, because it'll be quick. It was harder for Yongguk, though." She sighed. "Part of it was that we had to make up for yesterday's fiasco, none of which was our fault. That doesn't matter, except that the higher-ups understood it was out of my control so they didn't blame me and push to punish me."

Yugyeom patted her knee. "Sounds rough." It sounded worse than that; they blamed her sometimes? For what? He didn't have the energy to get as angry as he wanted to even though it sounded unfair.

"Yeah, well… it's not… I mean, it's sort of normal for this time in the cycle, getting ready for promotions. It's just that yesterday made it more stressful than it usually is. How was your day?"

Yugyeom closed his eyes. "I had physical therapy today. It's… hard." He stopped talking, hoping she'd say something. She stayed quiet. "I feel like it's not helping, like I'm not getting any better. It feels, sometimes, like I'll never be back to… to what I used to be, like I'll never be pain free. I can't seem to get any better. Well, they tell me I am, but I can't see it. I can't tell." He sighed in frustration, not able to get the words out.

Eunhong lay her hand over his. "I know how that feels, the not feeling like anything's getting better, and not being able to tell."

It helped, even though he knew she wasn't talking about the same thing. She sounded like she understood, and it made him feel better. "Thanks," he said softly.

They sat there for a while, he didn't know how long, and he relaxed some more. He liked this, sitting quietly together, not needing to talk. He enjoyed spending time with her, no matter how, and he could focus on her, on the way her body felt next to his, her hand on his, how smooth her skin felt against his. He enjoyed her company more, the more time he got to spend with her. He might have to tell her, when they weren't both exhausted.

Movement in the hallway caught his attention, and he opened his eyes to see who it was. His mother stood there, watching them. She smiled and gave him a nod, and then continued down the hallway.

His mother had never done that with any of the other girls he'd brought home. Usually, she stood there in the hallway, looking on in disapproval until his date saw her. He wondered what it was about Eunhong that made her approve. Especially now that she knew what Eunhong did for a living; he'd had to explain why she had such odd hours, why she'd needed the refuge for a while. His mother had asked to hear her music as soon as he'd hung up with Eunhong when he'd told her she could stay. She didn't like it all that much, although she agreed with her clothing choices in the mvs. Maybe that was it? Or it was something else? He didn't know, and he didn't know if he'd remember in the morning to ask her. It made him happy that she approved of Eunhong, though. It made him feel better about everything, and proud to know he could help Eunhong when she needed it.

His mother returned a few minutes later and got them moving, helping Eunhong gently to her feet, and then they both helped Yugyeom to his feet, and went to bed.


End file.
